Rewind
by Kaatje7
Summary: Part Three of GS Series. As the war in the future affects the portals Gary and Xavier get thrown into another dimension as well as travelling through time. slash, brief xfiles crossover
1. Everything Dies

RewindPart One – Everything Dies

_The Breakfast Room, Strathclyde, 9.30am, 7th May 2053_

Ron lay back in the armchair now snoozing soundly; the events of the last couple of days had caught up with him. The sleep he had managed to get overnight had not been enough and now he sat with his head rested to the side, snoring gently. Gary breathed a sigh of relief, it was a cruel thought but he was glad that Ron was out of the picture for a little while. He just didn't feel comfortable talking to Xavier in front of him; not in the way he wanted to anyway. Xavier had said that he believed that Gary was the real Gary and they had ate a pleasant enough breakfast together but Gary was still in the dark over Xavier's true feelings. Conversation had dried up once Gary's momentary boldness had left him. It was hardly surprising, you couldn't say everything and solve everything with a quick hug in front of Xavier's father; the fact that he was also his friend and at least ninety years old didn't help either.

Gary turned away from Ron to look at Xavier and found that he had been watching Ron too. Xavier turned to look nervously at Gary.

"Were you serious when you said you would stay?" Xavier asked looking down at his lap.

"Yes, I'm not going anywhere," Gary replied, "Your father has things set up so I can't leave anyway." Gary added with a feint smile, thinking that Xavier would be amused too.

Xavier looked up, "So that's why you are staying, because my father has insisted?"

Gary could have strangled himself for thinking now was the time to be light hearted. "He put a chip in my shoulder so I could survive here, only it says I'm a paraplegic so I can't leave without an escort," Gary explained, "But I let him do it willingly, my only regret was that I didn't know he was bringing me here to you. He said that he forbade me from seeing you and he was taking me to a rented house."

Gary thought he saw a hint of a smile cross Xavier's face, "Devious bastard." Xavier said quietly lost in his own thoughts for a second. "When did you know?" Xavier asked looking up at Gary.

"Last night I heard noises, I went next door to see what it was, I thought it was Ron since I didn't know there was anybody else in the house. But it wasn't Ron it…"

"Shit!" Xavier interrupted, "That was you?"

"You remember?" Gary asked, "I didn't think you really woke up."

"Oh, Gary," Xavier said a tear beginning to form, "I woke this morning thinking that I knew that you had been there but when I opened my eyes the room was empty and I couldn't find anything that told me it had been real."

At the sight of Xavier's distress Gary's boldness came back and he stood up and went to Xavier's side. A loud snort of a snore from Ron's chair made him jump back.

Ron shook his head and opened his eyes as Xavier struggled to create a neutral composure.

"Well, I feel much better for that." Ron announced looking far too bright eyed for Gary to hope that he might have another nap anytime soon.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 10.30pm, 7th May 2053_

Xavier Gary and Ron filed into Xavier's bedroom, they had all agreed that they were tired but Ron was still in teaching mode and wanted to give Gary some more instructions in his new job. Gary thought he could quite happily figure it out if he were left alone with Xavier to work on it between them but Ron was in full doctor mode. Gary thought he would let him have his way for now, he had waited all day to get some more time alone with Xavier and it looked like his chance was nearly happening.

Xavier's ankle was still very painful so Gary's first duty in his new job had been as support on the brief walks they had made through the day. He was fulfilling that particular role as they entered the bedroom and Gary eased Xavier down onto the edge of the bed. Ron knelt down on the floor and began to examine Xavier's ankle, Gary felt compelled to join him.

"This is swelling up again," Ron told Xavier, "If it's like this in the morning I don't want you getting up."

"OK," Xavier responded.

Ron seemed a little surprised to get compliance, he turned to Gary, "You will have to see to this and bring breakfast up in the morning; I want a lie in tomorrow."

"OK," Gary said purposely-echoing Xavier's response.

Ron then went on to explain how the leg brace should be removed. Gary didn't remember this bit from last time and made a mental note to ask Xavier about what had happened. Then came the bandaging, Gary didn't have to pay attention for that bit; his mind strayed onto other things instead. He mulled over the fact that Ron was planning a sleep in; it meant an opportunity to talk.

Suddenly Ron was standing up and calling his name, Gary struggled to think if Ron had asked him something or not.

"Gary, Xavier can do the rest himself now, come with me and leave him to it." Ron commanded.

Gary stood up and tried not to look reluctant, he turned to Xavier, "Well I'll see you in the morning," he said with a smile that he hoped said 'I'll be back soon'.

Xavier watched Gary leave the room with his father and felt more than a bit dismayed. He could hardly believe it of himself; he had just got what he had been hopelessly yearning for, for the past year. It was surely a miracle, he appreciated the gift so much but he hadn't expected to feel like this. He hadn't expected to feel that somehow it still wasn't right. Those two days together had been exactly what he wanted back but somehow this time it was different.

As Xavier lay in bed trying to get to sleep he could hear Gary and his father talking in the next room. It was just a low rumble and he couldn't hear the words but he could tell that they talked easily together. He even heard from time to time the occasional laugh. This was what was wrong, Xavier thought, Gary was his father's friend, had been for many years; maybe he was only doing it for him. Maybe even if Gary did love him, it was only as a parent. He had even said as much earlier, Xavier thought with a sinking heart.

"I don't need another father," he said to himself as he pressed one ear into the pillow and covered the other one with his hand.

It was 2am before Ron finally left, so much for being tired, Gary thought, He had produced a bottle of whisky from somewhere, he didn't ask where, considering its illegal status. Ron had wanted to talk and although Gary had wanted to get back to Xavier he had let Ron down enough times in his life; he had promised that he wouldn't do it again. So he had resigned himself to talking to Ron and drinking whisky that he didn't really have a want for anymore. He had turned the conversation to his advantage however, once Ron had assured him that everything would be all right between Xavier and himself Gary asked about his childhood. Ron very happily obliged and tactfully avoided too many references pertaining to his former wife.

Then as Ron got past Xavier's childhood and onto the war he started to recount how Xavier had joined up, been trained and had then become injured in the first week of duty. There was no more laughing now and cushioned by the haze of the alcohol Ron told Gary everything up to the moment he had walked into 'Blitz and Pieces' bar a year ago. Gary sat on the edge of his bed wondering, not why Xavier had nightmares, but why he didn't have them every time he tried to close his eyes.

Xavier woke up not knowing exactly why, he was more used to being shaken awake by his father after a bad dream or at least feeling a bit upset. There was nothing this time though, he felt calm; he couldn't remember anything bad happening after he got to sleep. He was thirsty though and there was something not right, he never woke up without a reason. He turned to the right as best as he could manage and pulled himself up so he could get the water off the bedside table. It was in a tall thin glass, which he could pick up easy enough and there was a straw sticking out the top; he was so glad his father had stopped playing games now and had given him things how he liked them. He twisted back round onto his back so he could drink propped up against the headboard. It was then that he noticed that the curtains had been pulled back a little way. Now he thought about it, it had been easier to find his drink than it usually was; he usually had to switch a light on. Not only that, the chair across the room was different somehow, he had been wearing light coloured sweats and had tossed them over there but the chair was now covered in dark fabric. Xavier strained to see and thought he saw something else.

"Gary!" he called over to what he thought he had seen, he thought he could see a face; Gary slumped in his chair.

He had thought it was his imagination enough to jump and nearly spill his water when the figure moved in the chair and sat up to face him.

"Did I make a noise? Did I wake you?" Gary asked with concern.

"No, I hardly knew you were there," Xavier replied trying not to look to eager, "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep." Gary answered quite truthfully, "I thought my time would be better served here."

"You keeping guard over me for my father?" Xavier teased half jokingly.

"He didn't ask me too." Gary replied.

"You'll get cold over there, you should come to bed." Xavier suggested boldly, hoping at the same time he had left the offer open enough.

Gary came to rest on the edge of the vacant side of the bed, Xavier nearly laughed at the sight of him in some of his father's clothes. He sobered himself with some thoughts over his current fears.

"What were you up so late talking to my father about?" Xavier asked sounding just as jealous as he was, "I thought that we were all tired."

"He wanted to reminisce and I wanted to catch up."

"What did you talk about?" Xavier continued a little too sharply.

"Lots of stuff, though we stayed clear of anything to do with my former wife for now." Gary said hoping that Xavier would see the funny side but he wasn't having much luck lately.

Xavier turned away, put the glass of water down and snuggled back down onto the pillows.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep Gary?" Xavier said a little too sharply.

Gary sighed, how could Ron have been so confident in telling him everything would be OK. "Well I'll go to bed, like you said." Gary said matching Xavier's tone and standing up.

"I didn't say 'go to bed', I said 'come to bed'," Xavier mumbled as he fought to remain composed long enough for Gary to leave.

Gary didn't leave; he sat on the edge of the bed but didn't speak.

"What are you doing?" Xavier asked after a minute.

"I'm taking my shoes off." Gary answered.

"We need to talk." Xavier said as Gary slipped under the duvet beside him. "I need to know what you want."

"I would tell you if your father wasn't looking over our shoulders." Gary joked.

"He isn't here now." Xavier said smiling slightly.

Gary pushed himself up on one elbow and looked down at Xavier remembering all the things Ron had told him, "You need your sleep, it's too late for talking now." He said and watched Xavier's smile fade, "But there's always the morning and your father did drink enough whisky to sink a battleship."

Gary snuggled down onto the pillow, turned on his side and laid a protective arm across Xavier's chest, caressing his shoulder.

"I'll kill him," Xavier said trying to be suitably annoyed, "He could get us all arrested for keeping that stuff."

"Well I don't think he could have brought any more back with him, that should be all there was."

"Hmm," Xavier acknowledged as he felt fatigue and Gary's gentle touch take over, "That feels good."

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 9am, 8th May 2053_

Ron approached Xavier's bedroom door and turned the handle as gently as he could manage. He had an idea what he might see. He had intended to sleep in but since fate had decreed otherwise he couldn't resist seeing what had been going on elsewhere. If he didn't find what he hoped to find he was going to go next door and find out from Gary why he hadn't. They had been stealing looks at each other all day quite apart from the fact that Xavier wouldn't let anybody else touch him. He supposed that Gary might not know that. He daringly edged the door open but he need not have bothered with such caution. They lay close together, peaceful; all care forgotten for now. Ron stayed to watch for a minute; he had received an email from Suzie that morning and knew that things would not stay as they were for much longer. He just hoped they had enough time for the plans Ron had in mind, the first step was to tell Suzie about Gary; that was the hard bit, then all he needed was time. He didn't want to pull himself away; it had been so long since he had seen his son look so relaxed. He forced himself back out of the doorway, they would wake soon and he was sure they didn't want an audience. He went down to the office and started to type up an email, somehow he didn't have the nerve to explain by phone.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 10am, 8th May 2053_

Gary got out of bed and went to the window, he pulled backs the drapes and took a look out over the grounds. He lazily stretched his arms up over his head and flexed his fingers. He had slept in too late he knew, so much for getting an in depth conversation in before Ron woke up. Still, it had been worth it, he felt relaxed and calm. He smiled faintly as he continued to look out of the window, the sun shining across the immaculate lawn. There was something else there too, happiness if he remembered correctly. For the first time in years he wasn't running around trying to cover his tracks and keep up with the latest deception. There was no point trying to hide with Xavier, he had learnt that quick enough. Every question Xavier asked, he would just answer as the truth came to his mind, which was all there was to it. There was still scope for awkwardness, the suicide for one thing. Xavier didn't seem to ask things he didn't want to know the answer to; he knew they would have to approach some of them very soon though; he owed both him and his father.

"It's a nice day Gary," Xavier called to him, "You should get out there for a walk today."

Gary turned from the window "But you're not going anywhere." He added.

Xavier feigned a dramatic disappointment to hide the very real feelings below it. Gary thought he must be getting old and maybe just a little wise; he wasn't fooled for a minute.

"A sprained ankle, when cared for correctly, takes no time at all to heal," he preached, "However, if I was to venture out there alone I might well get lost. Darkness would fall and I would end up tripping over a stone, I would fall and be left lying, waiting for help that was unlikely to come."

Xavier hurled a pillow at Gary in response; it hit him on the head.

"So, I will have to wait till someone more experienced in these things can escort me," Gary continued turning to face Xavier.

Gary was met with a warm smile from the big bed. Xavier was sat up against several pillows expecting to spend the rest of the day resting his ankle. Gary was supposed to be embarking on the breakfast run. Xavier was quite accustomed to giving as good as he got and wasn't about to let Gary away with teasing him over his latest ill advised exploit, especially when he had omitted telling Gary the entire story.

"At least I don't go falling off bridges in the dead of night," Xavier retorted. It didn't have the effect he hoped for though, Gary's face became instantly ashen and the very stark reality of what was behind his comment struck him too. This was different; they both knew the truth of this one. All the memories of the past year came flooding back to Xavier, they could not be exorcised by a few kind words, he wasn't expecting to feel like that; Gary stood before him but might as well have been a ghost. His chest felt tight, the lump in his throat was choking him, and the tears in his eyes blurred his vision to nothing. Then something new, anger.

Gary stood frozen still like a rabbit caught in a pair of headlights, he watched Xavier's expression change, they had mentioned the subject he least wanted to answer to and there was no going back.

"I, I'm sorry." Gary stammered in his habitually inadequate way.

The glass of the bedside cabinet came hurtling towards him and struck him hard on the face before he realised what was happening. He staggered backwards against the curtains more out of shock than anything else.

"You're sorry?" Xavier attacked him his face full of sorrow, "Have you no idea what that was like? Didn't you ever think? To find a death certificate like that, suddenly changed, to find a suicide note in your hand that was never there before."

"I didn't think."

"No, you never do. You didn't think how poor Reg and Margie would feel when they found the note, why should you care what would happen when I came across it 106 years later?"

Gary tried to take a few steps towards Xavier but he didn't want to encourage any more flying objects; he hadn't thought and he regretted it now more than he had ever regretted anything.

When Xavier spoke next his voice was calm but cut through Gary all the more deeply because of it.

"I told you that you would be ok, that you would be ok with Phoebe, that there was nothing to worry about," he said his eyes now directed to the his hands which lay in his lap, "It was true, before you came to me you had a wonderful future. Meeting with me ruined it, I wish I knew how, I shouldn't have got involved. I shouldn't have let my father decide what to do, I should have got the gate blocked by a wall then you wouldn't have been able to get through. I didn't mean it to happen but after I saw you it all seemed to happen by itself."

"It wasn't your fault, your mother was always clear about who was to blame, it was always me." Gary said moving forward to sit on the bed, he had to do something and fast. Words seemed empty; he wasn't very good with them anyway. "Please don't hit me," he pleaded as he took Xavier's right arm and wrapped it round his shoulder. He eased Xavier up onto his shoulder and held him tightly. Xavier became limp in his arms but Gary supported the weight gladly.

"I became so down, I wasn't sleeping or eating, it was like I was falling down a well and I couldn't reach out and catch hold of anything, I didn't know what to do, I just wanted the falling to stop." Gary tried to explain. He tried to get Xavier to look at him but he refused to be moved. Gary rubbed his back gently, "Then your father turned up and pulled me back. He knows you found out, he did all he did because he knew, you have no idea of the lengths he went to." Gary didn't know if this was the case but it seemed likely now.

"I didn't think I was so obvious, I thought I was hiding it." Xavier whispered against Gary's chest, "I'm sorry Gary, I am no better, I didn't think."

Gary squeezed Xavier, "Well at least you didn't go trying to jump off a bridge."

"Hmm." Xavier replied non-commitedly and held onto Gary like a comfort blanket. Gary rocked him gently. "I thought I could handle it, knowing the score as I did."

"And I knew that I had to leave, what does that make me?" Gary said as he ran his hand through Xavier's hair.

"You won't leave me now?" Xavier asked lifting slightly off Gary's shoulder.

Gary smiled hoping Xavier could feel it, "I can't go back, I committed suicide remember."

Xavier wriggled to be free and leaned back in Gary's looser grip, he smiled faintly and sighed, "Tell me what my father did," he requested, "I need to know before I thank him."

Gary pulled Xavier back onto his shoulder and told him everything.

_The Breakfast Room, Strathclyde, 11.00am, 8th May 2053_

When Gary eventually made it down to the breakfast room he found Ron sitting in a chair by the window enjoying a cup of tea. He looked up as Gary entered.

"You look like shit; everything ok?" Ron commented.

"Yes," Gary said trying to smile, "Everything's fine."

Ron, not surprisingly, didn't believe him and raised an eyebrow to illustrate the fact.

"How is Xavier?" Ron asked.

"His ankle is still swollen, he's staying in bed."

"No wonder you look bad, give you a hard time did he?"

It was Gary's turn to be surprised, "No, he's fine. He would like to see you though, I said I would get you to go up."

Ron pulled himself to his feet, helped Gary fill up a few plates of food then followed him to Xavier's room.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 8.30am, 12th May 2053_

Xavier allowed Gary to lift him up from the bed, with his father around so much he didn't like to miss any chance to get close. Gary didn't seem to be complaining too loudly either. He took hold of the proffered crutch in one hand and linked arms with Gary using the left.

They made their way down to the office at a leisurely place, when they had called for breakfast to be sent to the office so they could eat on the job they had been told that Ron was already there. Ron had recently taken to sleeping in more and leaving the work to Gary and Xavier for the first working hour of the day. Not that much work got done; they usually just sat together munching on toast, holding hands and chatting. That wasn't going to happen now though so they made the best of their walk to work.

When they entered the office Ron swiftly cleared something off the computer screen and turned to greet them.

"So this is the time you two usually drift in, in the morning?" Ron commented with a teasing smile on his face. He was trying to hide something, Gary thought, beneath the cheer he looked tired and troubled.

Xavier let the comment go straight over his head and took his place at the desk. Gary reached over and pulled his chair away from beside Xavier's and sat down in front of his own desk. He swivelled to face Ron.

"Come to check up on us Ron?" Gary asked in reference to his guilty actions with the computer.

"No, I trust Xavier to keep everything in order, he's very thorough as I'm sure you know, Gary." Ron said raising an eyebrow at Gary.

Gary nearly choked on the coffee he had just poured from the pot, was he making an innuendo in front of his son?

"No," Ron continued now full of seriousness, "I wasn't checking up on the business, after all, what is the point anymore?" He sighed.

Xavier looked up sharply from the toast it had taken all of his concentration to butter. "What's happened?" He asked with his voice revealing deep concern.

"I hade an email from Suzie that's all," Ron said.

"What did she say?"

Ron sighed again, "She couldn't say much, I just wouldn't spend all your time agonising over the business that's all. I think we should all enjoy ourselves a bit more."

"Defeatist talk Ron?" Gary commented, "Undermining morale, giving up?"

"This isn't the jolly old second world war you know," Ron snapped.

Gary turned to his computer and fought with it to try and cover the tense silence that followed. He could hear Xavier doing the same. Next thing, Ron had placed his hand firmly on Gary's shoulder.

"Get up," Ron commanded. Gary did as he was told. He watched as Ron dragged his chair back over to Xavier's desk and moved his coffee onto the other desk too, "Now sit."

Gary complied in confusion. Ron reached in his suit jacket pocket, pulled out two packets and placed them down on the desk. He then leant over to the computer and pressed a few keys, which had the effect of clearing the orders database and loading up a game of beautifully rendered 3D chess.

"I'll be in the cellar if you need me for anything," Ron announced as he turned to leave. As an afterthought Ron turned to place a lighter on the desk, then left.

Xavier turned to look at Gary as Gary turned to look at him, then they both looked at the two packets of 'Special Six' that lay on the desk before them. Xavier's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"I've never seen you smoke since I came back." Gary observed suddenly realising.

"Because my father doesn't like the smell in the house," Xavier explained.

"But his main business is manufacturing and selling the stuff."

Xavier shrugged his shoulders, "It's good money and it's a legal cover for some of the more questionable activities."

"What!"

Xavier smiled, "Oh do calm down Gary, just the odd scam since the war broke out, him and his medical friends scheming and planning."

"What is he into?"

Xavier laughed nervously, "Oh, I don't ask what, the less people know the better, you'll have to ask him if you really want to know."

"So when he goes away to London…"

"Yes, sometimes it's legitimate war work, sometimes it's other things."

"Your father looked so troubled today." Gary observed as a wish to stick his head in the sand kicked in again.

Xavier sighed, "Yep, but if it's the war, there's very little we can do about it. Maybe he's right."

"Hmm?"

Xavier reached for one of the packets and opened it. He handed Gary a joint and took one for himself and then made use of the lighter. They both leant back in their chairs and smoked in comfortable silence letting it take effect.

"Want to play chess?" Gary asked as they lit up a second.

Xavier smiled and raised his eyebrows, "Not really, I know another game we could play."

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 9.00am, 4th June 2053_

Gary and Xavier watched from the main entrance as Ron drove away in the car on his way to London. The situation with the war continued to get worse, they were both worried that he had to go away again but they couldn't deny the fact that they also yearned for a week by themselves. Ron did try to give them some space but it wasn't easy. There was nothing Gary wanted to do more than spend the entire week in pleasurable activities but this latest trip of Ron's was worrying him greatly.

Ron was looking so tired; Gary didn't know how he managed to keep going. To this he added the fact that Ron was becoming more and more evasive about his activities, even with Xavier. As far as Gary could tell Xavier was managing to shrug Ron's secretive behaviour off and trust him totally to acting in their best interests. Gary was finding it harder and harder to keep his head in the sand, Ron had been promising him an open truth for a while now and he had yet to deliver.

Gary turned to Xavier and as he did so he knew that he had to know.

Xavier sensed Gary's disquiet. "Let's walk towards the gardens." He said leading the way; he had persuaded Ron to remove the cast from his arm that morning but he had had to promise to keep it in a sling in return. Gary wrapped an arm round his waist and Xavier leaned into him as they walked slowly.

"Tell me about it," Gary said, "Please tell me what is going to happen."

Xavier sighed, "My father has been holding out on me too, the news is restricted. I don't know exactly what might happen but I think that an invasion will come soon."

"What does that mean for us?" Gary asked before he lost the nerve.

"What do you know about the war?" Xavier asked.

"Virtually nothing recent, the Germans started it, the Americans are in it too."

"It will be the Americans who invade, there is no easy way to approach this, they have a culture which is vastly different to our own, they believe they will be saving us from our own immorality I imagine." Xavier said looking straight ahead of him, "When they invade they will kill all who do not immediately see the error of their ways. American laws will take effect immediately and they will be dealt with in the same manner as they are there."

"What will we have to do?"

Xavier shook his head sadly, "There is nothing we can do. Do you remember 'the Bible belt', was that in your time?"

"Yes." Gary answered grimly, "So the Christian Right took over?"

"More than that, much more."

"So they're against our kind of relationship?"

"Yes, but we could hide that." Xavier explained, "There's a lot of scientific work that has gone on here that was outlawed in the States. Abortion, cloning experiments, anything like that."

Gary was beginning to reach a realisation, "Your father is involved with these things?"

"Yes, he met some people while he went through med school."

"So he's making plans to hide or something?"

"No, well, yes maybe, I don't know," Xavier continued, "Thing is, it won't just be him who's in danger."

"Are you involved too?" Gary asked as the fear threatened to consume him, he hardly knew how he kept walking.

"What am I Gary? What is Suzie?"

"Bank babies."

"Exactly, and you are my mother, Ron is my father but not by the natural way."

"So are we going to die?" Gary asked starkly.

Xavier didn't answer; he stared at the ground. Gary stopped walking and pulled Xavier into an embrace. He laughed bitterly. "So Ron brought me back for this."

"Well you were going to jump off the bridge anyway." Xavier commented, "Maybe he thought he could do something, maybe he's got a plan."

Gary found it hard to share Xavier's optimism when he combined Ron's haunted and exhausted face with what he now knew.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 3.00pm, 10th June 2053_

Ron walked through the house looking for Gary and Xavier; he eventually found them in the indoor pool. The air was filled with a mixture of chlorine and marijuana smoke. Gary was supporting Xavier, his hands holding onto an arm each as Xavier kicked in the water more with one leg than the other. Ron smiled to himself realising why Xavier had wanted the cast off so urgently. He had to admit that, whatever their intentions, it was good exercise for Xavier. They seemed to be happy enough and there would be time later for ruining that; Ron slide back out of the room without a sound and went back upstairs to his bedroom. Two cases lay on the bed; he checked their contents and slumped down in a chair by the window. He took out his phone and speed-dialled Suzie's number, as the phone rang he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a syringe, several pieces of paper and a small glass bottle. The ringing tone ceased.

"Suzie?" he spoke into the phone, his voice sounding urgent.

"Yes, what's the matter?" she answered immediately detecting the mood.

"I need you to come up here," Ron said simply.

"I can't, it's too hectic here, and everything is in a panic."

"I need you here, all is lost anyway, please come as soon as you can."

"True, the Americans may be landing any day now but that isn't the end of the fight."

"It is for some of us, you must come tonight while London is still clear."

"London? London is destroyed father."

"Not all of London is destroyed, I'm sure you know what I mean."

"Gary?"

"Yes, Gary, it's about time he did something good with his life."

"I'll be up there as soon as I can." Suzie replied, "I've got to go." She added hastily switching her phone off.

"Goodbye." Ron spoke to the now dead line.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 5.30pm, 10th June 2053_

Gary and Xavier made their way down to dinner having showered and dressed after their swim. They passed through the main foyer on their way down to the kitchens, having given the kitchen staff leave for a week so they could have their privacy. Xavier glanced out of a window as they walked.

"Hey, that's my father's car," Xavier observed.

"Must have come back early." Gary added.

"Really, you think so?" Xavier said with a smile.

"Very funny. Why don't you go down to the kitchens and I'll go find him, see how he is."

"You'll join me soon?"

"I'll be straight back down." Gary said taking the steps two at a time.

Gary strode along the corridor and went straight into Ron's room, he couldn't imagine anything Ron would be shy about letting him see, and in any case he needed answers. The room was still, far too quiet, there was something else too. It made the hairs on the back of Gary's neck stand up and he suddenly felt like retreating from the room.

"Ron." He called and was met with silence. He should have been thinking that Ron just wasn't in the room but somehow Gary knew it was something else. He walked towards Ron's armchair by the window; it wasn't facing into the room like it usually was. Ron sat in the chair, his eyes closed, his face peaceful; somehow Gary knew without investigating further that he wasn't sleeping. He had removed his jacket and both his shirtsleeves were rolled up. Gary reached out and pressed two fingers to Ron's neck, he didn't really need to do it; somehow it was obvious even though he didn't want to know. It was as if the living had a tangible soul and that soul was now absent, a complete lack of expression showed it maybe. Gary wasn't exactly sure how he knew, he just did. He dropped his hand and looked down away from Ron's face too stunned for a moment to think. The folded sheets of paper on Ron's lap aroused his attention. He unfolded them and observed the writing in Ron's hand. He didn't read them; there was something else that caught his eye. He reached down to pick up two items, which rested in Ron's hands, a syringe with an exposed needle and an empty bottle. Gary read the label on the bottle; insulin.

"Oh shit," he said numbly as he stood staring at them, "How the hell am I going to tell Xavier this?" he asked himself, his brain was shooting into automatic pilot now, "I won't have to tell him." Gary added realising; "You're over ninety, quite likely that you died naturally." he spoke to Ron's body as he stuffed the evidence to the contrary into his jacket pocket.

Gary picked up the phone and dialled down to the kitchen.

"Xavier?"

"What's up?" Xavier answered cheerfully.

"Can you come up, your father would like to see you."

Gary felt as if he was another world while he waited for Xavier to arrive. His brain was trying to go into denial and was overdoing it a bit in the effort. Part of him wanted to go make a cup of tea, walk away and ignore the evidence in the bedroom, continue with the day as they had expected to spend it. All these delusions washed away in an instant when he heard Xavier come upstairs in the lift. Xavier walked slowly but he seemed to be slower than ever as he approached Gary waiting for him in the corridor. Gary felt that he must look like a ghost, he had felt the blood draining away, and he didn't know how he was still standing up. He didn't know how he was going to find the words to tell Xavier.

As Xavier got nearer his face flooded with concern.

"What's the matter?" Xavier asked in a panic.

Gary didn't say anything; he just stared with the face of a man who has just seen the world end. Xavier didn't need words; he remembered that look too well.

"My father?" he whispered.

Gary nodded recognising that Xavier understood, he reached out and pulled him into an embrace, Xavier came willingly. There were no tears; it was too soon for that. Xavier's mind tried to deal with the revelation, his denial manifested in an interest in practicalities.

"We need to get in touch with Suzie, first a cup of tea Gary, yes?" Xavier said hurriedly.

"Ssh." Gary attempted soothe as he hugged Xavier in his arms.

Xavier struggled with the hold, "No, I must phone my sister."

"Leave it a few minutes." Gary tried to insist.

"Gary, please help me," Xavier pleaded, "Please."

Gary relented, "Ok, let's go make a cup of tea first." He said putting an arm around Xavier to support him as best he could.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 8.00pm, 10th June 2053_

Gary heard the phone slam down on the big wooden kitchen table. He was making another round of tea for Xavier. He abandoned his duties at the sound and turned to see to see what was happening. He held his head in one hand and looked wretched.

"I can't find her." He said looking like his emotions may at last get the better of him, "Nobody at the base knows where she's gone and her phone is lying in her locker, somebody else heard it ringing and answered."

"She'll turn up and somebody is bound to get the message to her."

"They're too busy." Xavier lamented.

Gary sat down next to Xavier and pulled him into his arms, hugs seemed so inadequate but it was all he had.

"There you are." A female voice said brightly behind them. They both nearly jumped out of their skin.

"Suzie?" Xavier called to her, "I've been trying to get you."

"Where is your father?" Suzie asked in her best-inconvenienced voice, "He called me and told me to get up here immediately, like there was an emergency or something."

Xavier crumpled and buried his head in Gary's shoulder. Gary looked up knowing that he would have to break the news and was struck by how much Suzie resembled his first wife.

"Gary, tell me what's going on, I had to go AWOL to get here." Suzie demanded.

"I don't know what he rang you about but we found him dead in his room a few hours ago." Gary blurted out before the shock that Suzie knew who he was sank in and took his voice.

Suzie's resolve wavered but it was no more than a flicker, "So this was what he was up to." She said almost to herself. "Take care of him." She commanded Gary, "I'm going upstairs."

Gary held onto Xavier, he sobbed openly now, he was glad in a way; it had been no good to try and keep it in.

After what seemed like an age Suzie returned looking composed and determined. Xavier had calmed and sat leaning on Gary; he kept him enveloped in an embrace. Suzie was holding the pieces of paper that Gary had found on Ron's lap.

She placed them down on the kitchen table. "Have you read these?" she asked.

Gary shook his head, "No, there hasn't been time."

Xavier looked up to see what was going on.

"I know this is hard but you must listen to me," Suzie continued in a detached tone, "My father insisted that I come down here, he wanted me to do something whilst London was still accessible. Everything else is written down in this letter." Suzie indicated towards the letter on the table. "I have read it but I think you should too."

Gary nervously reached out for the letter, he dreaded what it was going to tell him but Xavier certainly wasn't up to the job. Gary read it slowly taking in everything, it was instructions, everything in the most minute detail; it was what they were to do next.

"What does it say Gary?" Xavier asked his voice weak.

Gary looked up to Suzie for guidance, he was feeling rather overwhelmed. She shrugged her shoulders, indicating that was his problem to deal with.

"Invasion is imminent but your father had a plan," Gary tried to explain, "It appears that we will have to make a move sooner rather than later. We have to go to London."

"How are we going to do that?"

"I'll drive." Suzie cut in, "That's what I'm here for; we all drive down to London."

"I don't understand." Xavier said looking up at Gary, clearly bemused.

"The bomb that destroyed London also affected the time portals. Even in the 1940s something similar happened on a smaller scale, that was how your father found me; he thinks we can find refuge in the past." Gary explained.

"I don't like this one bit," Suzie added, "I think you know Gary, what I think of the time travelling exploits."

"But the alternatives are a bit thin on the ground." Gary added.

"Yes, we will have to leave soon, time is running out." Suzie added.

"Are they coming?" Xavier asked.

"The Americans can be no more than a week away from invasion, it could be tomorrow, I don't know."

"That soon? You mean we have to travel down to London tonight?" Gary asked with shock; he was concerned for Xavier, this was just too much.

"From all the preparations that my father has made he must have been working round the clock to get things ready for us, let's not waste the advantage he has given us and risk failure." Suzie said firmly.

"We are all dead if we fail, we must go." Xavier added trying to pull himself together.

"You can take all the time you like to find the right portal, that part of London is abandoned and forgotten, we just have to get through all the road blocks between here and there."

"Gary, we must pack, we must leave tonight, you can tell me what the letter says as we get ready." Xavier said trying to get up.

"We can't leave now, there are things to be taken care of here." Gary pointed out trying not to spell out the gory details.

"I'll take care of everything when I get back." Suzie offered.

Xavier turned to his sister, his face lined with distress, "You're not coming with us?"

"I can't," she replied, "We are of different blood, you and Gary can get through the portals but I can't."

"My father managed." Xavier added as he desperately sought for a way.

"Yes, but only after the bomb, I can't get through even now; I'll try when we get there but I'm quite sure it won't work."

Xavier looked as though his resolve was going to collapse; he seemed to visibly wilt in front of Gary. Gary stood up and took his supporting position. Xavier stepped away from him and made for the door.

"I've got to get things sorted, got to get packed," Xavier said avoiding Gary's gaze as he left the room and walked down the corridor.

Gary was going to follow but Suzie stopped him grabbing his arm firmly.

"Give him a few minutes by himself." She commanded, Gary wasn't about to argue.

Xavier's sister was too much like Yvonne for them to remain in the same room comfortably; Gary wanted to bolt out the door for more than one reason.

"If I had a choice I wouldn't be letting my brother go with you," Suzie said eventually, "However, my father planned it this way and he told me that you have been very good for Xavier these last few weeks."

"I'm sure your brother can make us his own mind who he goes with." Gary snapped.

Suzie glared at him and then made her face relax; she decided to let the matter rest under the circumstances.

"I suggest you get packed too." She said firmly after a few minutes.

"I think we should do something else before we go," Gary suggested, somewhere in the back of his mind he was determined to prove his worth as well as the simple need to do right by Xavier for its own sake, "A funeral, something to mark the event, bring it to a close."

Suzie silently nodded her approval.

_The Mansion, Strathclyde, 11.00pm, 10th June 2053_

They all sat holding hands in Ron's bedroom, the room lit only by the fading summer evening. A book lay on Suzie's lap and she read from it a poem, which was both a favourite of Xavier and Ron's. Gary vaguely thought of how things had changed since the 1990s for all of them, Ron and poetry, who would have thought. Suzie's voice was surprisingly soft and emotional, so used to army life she found it hard to step down even with family, now though everything lay bare.

"Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you planned:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad."

There was nothing more to be said, they sat holding hands for a while and when Xavier said he needed to lie down somehow all three of them ended up lain down on Ron's bed together. United in grief they clung to each other and slept a while.


	2. Believe The Lie

Part Two – Believe The Lie

_Night, London, Somewhere in time._

She could hear them calling her name, something must be wrong; she made her way along the path and through the trees trying to follow their voices. It was dark; there were hardly any streetlights, the wind swirled the leaves at her feet. No matter which way she turned to walk the voices of her colleagues seemed to be just as far away as ever. She couldn't see a thing but trees and shadows. She hated this, they still hadn't caught up with the man they had been chasing, he could be anywhere, and he could be waiting to grab her. She drew her gun and aimed it into the darkness, she must be careful; she could quite easily end up shooting the wrong person in the dim light.

She called her partner's name once more, "Where are you?" She called even louder. Well now a would-be assassin would know exactly where she was, she thought. They replied but it was caught up in the wind, the direction distorted. She walked forward; something flew past her, its wings catching the side of her face. She wasn't usually spooked easily but this time she brushed frantically to clear the intrusion even though it was long gone. It must have been a bat, she thought, she was really growing to hate this night. She stepped forward again, there was a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked her off her feet she whirled round to protect her face and staggered forward, and then all was still. She looked up, the moon now shone; she glanced down to find she could see a little more clearly. She called her partner's name again, she was confidant that she could search him out now, but there was no answer. She called again, trying not to let her voice sound frantic; he would never let her live it down if she got frightened over nothing. There was still no answer. She ran forward, her gun still aiming at whatever might come across her path loaded and ready. She turned round, searching into the distance. It was as if her partner had disappeared, they weren't answering her anymore, and she couldn't see them even though the visibility was now much improved. There was something wrong, they would never just give up and leave her like this, would they? She hadn't heard any sign of a struggle though; it was impossible to come to the conclusion that they had been taken. But where were they?

Now that the wind had dropped she got out her cell phone and hit the speed dial button for her partner, an electronic voice soon told her politely that the number was not currently valid. She tried it again and got the same message. Now she was annoyed, what was the matter with this thing? She dialled through to her boss's number, he was supposed to be with them both, she got a similar response.

"Damn these things." She said to the cell phone, turning it off with contempt. She would somehow get back to their hotel, rest up for a while and then plan what she was going to say to her partner when he returned from dumping her.

She walked to the edge of the park where the main road ran, brightly lit. She looked about her; everything was just as it had been as far as she could tell. The only thing that was noticeably different was the clear calm night and the absence of her partner. These things weren't too much to worry about but her boss had gone too, he would never willingly let that happen. There was something else too, something not quite right but she couldn't think of what it was.

You've got separated, she told herself, that's all; make your way back to the hotel, everything will be alright. And if they're not there, you can call them in missing. She started walking briskly along the road, they had parked the car not far away and she had the keys. She searched along the road, eventually coming to a crossroads she knew they hadn't gone beyond; the car was missing too.

"Damn it," She said kicking the nearest lamp-post and wishing it was her partner, she was used to this kind of shit from him but she couldn't think what could have happened to get their boss, ex-boss she reminded herself, to go along with this. But then, things had changed rather considerably over the last year, she thought. She had to come to the conclusion, very reluctantly, that they must have been taken. They must have been taken silently and suddenly and then the perpetrators had made off with the hire car only she had the keys to and which they would have no reason to expect existed, they were less than a mile from their hotel. Neither scenario fitted the events but they were the only two she had to work on. She sighed and made off in the direction of the hotel, at least it was less than a mile, she reflected.

By the time she got back to the hotel she was so tired that the need for sleep was threatening to overtake her resolve to find her partner. She went on automatic pilot as she rode the lift up to the right floor and walked along the hallway to her room. She reached in her bag for the key card and reached forward to slide it through the reader, her eyes half closed as she did so. It wasn't there; she looked down and found only a conventional key lock. She looked from side to side taking in the familiar décor; all the doors were exactly the same as she remembered them except for the old-fashioned access system. She stared from the keyhole and then back to her pass card. The keyhole was a good twelve inches below where the swipe reader should have been; the door had scratches and imperfections that she remembered but there wasn't even a sign that a reader had been removed.

She checked all the doors on the corridor; they were all the same. She took out her cell phone and called headquarters. She asked to speak to the director by name and then she asked to be put through to her boss's secretary when that failed.

"I'm sorry," the voice replied again, "Nobody of that name is currently registered as an employee here."

She gave her name and asked to be put through to her partner's office; she had made this request a million times before. Same response, neither she nor her partner were now recognised by the switchboard, their extension number wasn't even currently in use. She cut off the connection with a rising feeling of panic. She called up her mother's number but her hand remained poised on the dial button unable to progress further.

She went back downstairs and surveyed the foyer; she didn't think it was worth getting into an argument with the desk staff so she headed out onto the street. She started to wander, walking along looking for something that would tell her where she was and what she was to do next. It's me, she thought, they haven't gone missing; I have.

There were a few restaurants that she looked longingly at; she was desperately hungry. She had thought about going into one only to end up staring despairingly down at her credit card. She had some cash, nowhere near enough for a meal but it was getting late, she needed somewhere to rest a while. She walked miles hardly knowing where she was heading until she looked down a street to find the entrance to The Ritz staring back at her. She had always wanted to know what the place looked like inside.

She wouldn't have to buy anything, she thought, it was such a big place that she imagined she could just wander in and sit in the warm for a while. She didn't give a thought to what they might think to her appearance, she was wearing a suit but it had been a rough day. She walked up to the entrance and the man on the door greeted her warmly. She blundered in looking for a comfortable sofa to flop down on. A man in uniform approached her. Damn, she thought, she was going to get thrown out.

"Good evening," He greeted her even more brightly than the last man, "How nice to see you again, will you be staying with us this evening?"

"I was thinking of taking a room." She answered feeling a little bit stunned. This man recognised her but she had never seen him before in her life. The man asked her if she would like her usual room and called her by a name that was not her own. "Yes, that would be nice, thank you." She replied. This place wouldn't deal in cash or visa, she thought, it would be somebody else's bill, this other women's account. She hoped her look-alike didn't show up anytime soon.

The man showed her up to a very nice room and as soon as he was gone she sank down onto the bed and picked up the phone. After ordering room service, she stripped off her clothes getting them ready for the laundry man who was on his way up. She tucked her gun underneath her pillow. She then took the complimentary notepad and pen and wrote down her new name before she could forget it.

She felt so tired, she shouldn't sleep, the laundry man came, the food was eaten and she was exhausted. Would he sleep or would he keep on looking for her until he died, she asked herself about her partner. She would look, she would kill herself looking but she was no good now. Sooner or later she was going to get rumbled and get thrown out of the room; it would be a crime to waste the time until then, she thought. Soon enough to start looking when she was once more back on the streets. Half asleep already she crawled underneath the covers and rested her head on the pillows, her fingers reaching underneath to wrap round her gun for safety.

_The morning after the night before, London, somewhere in time._

She woke up to the sound of somebody knocking on her door. She got up in a daze wrapping the complimentary hotel robe round her before she answered. It was the laundry man with her clothes. She thanked him as he handed them over, clean, fresh and perfectly ironed. Then she turned and looked back into the luxurious hotel bedroom and remembered why she was there.

"What the hell am I doing lying here sleeping?" She asked herself out loud. She went into the bathroom to pour a bath, "Because you don't know what else to do." She answered herself looking at her face in the mirror. She looked a little rested but still not her best.

She sank into the deep hot water up to her chin. All the staff in The Ritz knew her by name, she reflected, but her life as she had come to know it had just ceased to exist. He would love this one, she thought. A deep pang of loneliness gripped her, yes, he would have killed for this one and she was in it all on her own. She shook herself up before she sank too far down, she would return to where she had last seen them. She would retrace her steps and try to find where she had been when things started to go wrong. There had been a point where it was windy and she could hear their voices and then suddenly both of those things had stopped.

She dressed in her fresh clothes and retrieved her gun from the bed. She looked at herself in the mirror making sure that the gun didn't show. She had no protection now, no way she could explain herself if anybody caught her carrying the thing; she was illegally armed, no better than a criminal.

She stepped outside to a sunny day and took a deep breath. She didn't want to waste the little money she had so she started walking. She would have been enjoying it if circumstances had been different. As it was she felt uneasy, she felt as if every other person who passed her was staring at her. She would look at them and they would turn away embarrassed. She looked down at herself, there was no error in her dress, and nothing was stuck to her shoe. She tried to shake the feeling, tried not to be as paranoid as her partner had a tendency to be.

Her goal was in sight; she could see the trees and the entrance to where they had been searching the other night. She headed with resolve towards it; she crossed the road. She didn't see them before it was too late, a young girl and her mother approached her wearing wide grins.

"Hey it is you!" The mother said.

She fought the overwhelming urge to break into a run, "Yes, it's me!" She replied trying to match the grin.

"We do love your show." The young girl added, "We watch it every week."

"Thanks, it's fun to make." She found herself replying while inside she was screaming for help from the God she hoped was still in charge of things.

"I wonder," The mother said producing a notebook and pen, "If it's not too much trouble, could we have your autograph?"

"Yea, sure, of course." She grinned and obliged them with a quick scribble of the name the hotel man had given her.

They looked at the autograph and their faces beamed with delight, thankfully they made their excuses and left. She rushed through the gate and sought sanctuary behind the cover of the trees.

"I have got to get out of here." She said to herself.

_Location? Time? Well that would be telling wouldn't it?_

Gary and Xavier stepped through the portal together and Gary felt a huge surge of relief to find the wasteland melt away before his eyes and a graveyard take its place. Xavier was clinging to him and Gary could get quite used to it, he just didn't care much for what had brought it about. They were both tired, Gary could feel Xavier leaning on him more heavily now and his limp seemed to be more pronounced.

"Gary, I am so sorry but I must sit down for a minute," Xavier said as if he had heard Gary thinking.

"It's OK," Gary replied, "This is before the war, whenever it is, we can rest now."

They continued till Gary could find a park bench for them to sit on. He recognised the view, he remembered sitting there with Phoebe on his wedding day and a lump built in his throat that he had to fight away. It was the same graveyard; the time portals seemed to be very close together. He let the luggage he was carrying slip to the ground before he held Xavier firmly as he eased down onto the seat.

Gary sat down beside Xavier and put an arm round his shoulders; he eased Xavier's arm back into the sling to rest it, Xavier leant against him wearily.

"Are you OK?" Gary asked giving Xavier a squeeze.

"Yep," Xavier smiled weakly, "Just need a few minutes to rest."

Gary could tell that Xavier was underplaying things as usual, "Don't worry, I'll find us somewhere to stay for the night as soon as I can, then you can rest up properly."

"It was the wasteland, all those bricks and stuff." Xavier said burying his head into the folds of Gary's coat, his voice becoming shaky, Gary let him have his private moment of grief; he wasn't feeling too good himself.

Too much had happened in too short a time, he could understand how they both felt overwhelmed by it. But they were safe now, which was the main thing. Even if he had stumbled into the year 2000 nobody he knew would have any reason to be wandering around this part of London; he had only been here once with Ron and only a few times with Phoebe; fortunately he didn't think Yvonne knew it existed.

"I'm going to leave you here with half the bags if that's OK," Gary suggested, "I'll find us somewhere to stay, then I'll come back for you."

"OK," Xavier replied, not feeling too happy about it.

"I'll book us into the first place I come across, then I'll come straight back." Gary tried to reassure. "You'll be alright, this is the past whenever it is, at no point in history has this been a bad place."

"Even in your war?"

"Xavier, this place remained unchanged through hundreds of years, only the twenty first century could destroy it."

"OK." Xavier said feeling a little bit better about it. He disentangled himself from Gary's embrace and looked up at him, "You better get going, it's not that early and I am a bit cold." he said.

Gary touched a hand to his face, "And very tired too."

"Very tired." Xavier echoed looking down at his lap.

Gary stood up and heaved the backpack up over his shoulders and grasped a hold of two wheeled suitcases.

"When I come back we'll know what time it is and I'll have us somewhere to live I promise." Gary told Xavier.

"Yes, go. And Gary?"

"Hmm?"

"Make sure that you get a place without lots of stairs." Xavier reminded him.

When Gary had gone Xavier thought he heard the sound of a women crying. He couldn't see her but he had no intention of investigating even though the intensity of her feeling was quite harrowing. No, this was a graveyard; private grief was best left alone. He had his problems too and he knew that he certainly didn't want anybody but Gary to share them with.

Xavier took a smoke from the packet in his coat pocket; he knew that if they were in a time before 2040 this might be his last chance for a while. The woman who was crying was quieter now and was wandering about. Xavier watched her with curiosity; she didn't seem to be directing herself at any particular grave. He wondered if he should say something when she passed by him but he couldn't find the words. A few minutes later the opportunity had gone, she wiped at her eyes and struggled to compose herself, made for the main road and disappeared from sight.

When Gary returned Xavier was sat exactly as he had left him, he hoped that he had been all right. He breathed a sigh of relief when Xavier looked up as he approached and gave him a faint smile. He sat down next to him on the park bench. It was a sad sight really, when coupled with the circumstances they were in. Xavier looked pale and tired; he imagined he didn't look much better himself. They were both wearing as many of their clothes as they could manage making them look strangely overweight. Xavier still held his left arm in the sling; to Gary he looked impossibly vulnerable.

Gary touched a hand to Xavier's cheek, "I found us a bed and breakfast," He said with an encouraging smile, "I bought a paper and found out the date, we're in the year 2000 which would have been the present if I hadn't got stuck in the past. The credit card your father gave us for this year works perfectly, we have money. I'll get some tickets for the lottery in the morning and find us somewhere else to stay."

Xavier relaxed and leant towards Gary with relief.

"The room for tonight is on the first floor though." Gary had to mention.

"It will be warm and safe." Xavier said looking more tired than ever.

Gary put an arm round him and held him close, "A few minutes," he promised, "And then we'll head off."

Xavier nodded as he rested his head against Gary's shoulder.

_The Ritz, London, Somewhere in time._

She wandered back into The Ritz trying to think her way round her problem, trying to think logically even if her science was going to let her down. She had to figure out what had happened first, she reasoned. Firstly there was the hotel, nothing to swipe a card through, just a key lock; that was the first thing that had seemed different. Keys were old; swipe cards were new, therefore time-travel. She took a deep breath; she wasn't at all comfortable with this. Next, invalid phone numbers and neither her boss's, her partner's nor her own job existed; therefore again, time travel. More specifically, time travel into the past, seven years at least. No, more if her partner wasn't employed either. Thirdly, she was famous in London. She was recognised in The Ritz and out on the streets, fondly recognised, she needed somebody else to string up a theory for that one and he wasn't there.

She heard a man calling her new name, she turned to look at him and found him standing in the foyer with two men in suits, and more notably, a man in a British policeman's uniform. Their expressions were grim; they started to move towards her. She wasn't about to let anybody find her now illegal service weapon; she didn't have any very good explanations. She was all for justice, where justice was likely, but it would do her no good at all to end up locked in a cell. Against all her principles she turned for the door using the daytime crowds in the hotel and out on the streets for cover. Her modest height and ability to move fast without breaking out into a run served her well. She managed to weave her way along enough streets to be sure she wasn't being followed. She was relieved in a way since it meant that they mustn't have wanted her for anything too serious.

Now what was she going to do, she wondered. Her dash had made her warm, she wished that she could remove her jacket. She opened it up to try and get herself some air without showing her gun. She was all sweaty now, she felt uncomfortable. She would have killed for a refreshing shower but instead she had to come to terms with the fact that she was now effectively homeless. Homeless in every way a person could be. Somehow thought just left her; she wandered the streets taking in the sights. She had nowhere to go; she didn't know what to do.

The Graveyard, White chapel, London, June 2000

Gary looked about him as he gently ran a hand through Xavier's hair soothingly. He was hardly aware he was doing it. Xavier remained melted against him and he was very reluctant to move. It was getting cold though, Xavier had already said he was cold but he seemed to have forgotten it for the moment. Gary knew he was cold but it was a different type of cold, his soul was chilled. He remembered how all this had started, a bored Sunday afternoon and a long time before that, a wrong turning down an alleyway. Life sure was strange at times. Who would have thought that he would end up digging a grave for a ninety-something Ron with Yvonne's daughter looking on and insisting that there was no time for a funeral? Xavier had needed it though, he wouldn't appreciate it yet but everybody needs closure. Xavier, there was the strangest thing of all, Ron's son, his son too, they were together with nobody else left in the entire world for either of them. Gary wondered if Xavier knew that he would never see his sister again, one way or another she was dead.

A man who was quickly approaching them brought Gary out of his sad reflections suddenly. He was dressed in a dark suit and looked about him wildly as if searching for something that had disappeared. Yes, the look of confusion was there to be seen, as he got closer. He slowed as he got to the park bench and looked around once more before facing Gary. To Gary he looked vaguely familiar. Gary noted that in his right hand he held a gun. It swung back and forth as the man moved his arm, almost as if he was so used to it being there that he had forgotten about it. The man fumbled in his jacket with his free hand and pulled out what looked like a wallet. When he flicked his wrist to open the wallet Gary found that it contained an ID card. The man flashed the ID so quickly that Gary only caught the letters F, B and I boldly printed on it.

"FBI, I have authorisation to operate in this country from Scotland Yard," the man announced, "Did you see a man come this way?" he demanded.

Gary tensed just because of the gun and its proximity to his body. Xavier's reaction was a bit more dramatic. He jumped away from Gary in shock having been woken abruptly from a half doze. In 2053, FBI meant something entirely different and Gary wasn't sure how he could communicate that everything was all right without it sounding very weird. For Xavier the fact that the man was American was enough, he wriggled free of all contact with Gary.

Gary tried to grab hold of Xavier's hand to pull close so he could whisper an explanation but he wouldn't let it happen.

"Things are different here," Gary told him raising an eyebrow and willing him to understand, "It is the new millennium after all."

The FBI man was clearly puzzled but puzzled was no reason to arrest somebody. "You haven't answered my question." He insisted.

Gary was about to answer when Xavier caught sight of the gun and panicked. The FBI man took the panic to mean guilt and levelled the gun on Xavier, which didn't help matters at all.

"Did you see a man come this way?" The FBI man demanded again.

What also did not help was that Gary's mind decided it was time he remembered where he had seen the FBI man before. Throughout his time travelling exploits this had happened to him again and again, history was littered with caricatured British and American TV characters. Xavier was terrified but Gary couldn't now take this man seriously to save his life. He would do what he normally did, have a little fun then the moment would pass. It must be a strange consequence of time-travel or something; maybe the person in charge of the portals put these things in just for a laugh.

"Lost something?" Gary asked feeling quite smug with himself, this was more like the time-travel he was used to. It was about time after so much misery.

"What did you say?" The FBI man said taking the gun away from Xavier and pointed it at Gary.

"Gary!" Xavier hissed in warning.

"Have you lost something, or should I say somebody?" Gary persisted.

"Who are you working for, what do you know?" The FBI man demanded, his finger squeezing on the trigger almost beyond his own knowledge. Gary had to admit that this wasn't going quite to plan; now he was scared. He had obviously trodden on a skeleton; well, he had been too busy time-travelling to watch TV during the nineties.

"You lot travel in twos right?" Gary said to try and defuse the situation, "You have a partner?"

Gary watched as the FBI man reassessed his situation and calmed slightly only to become agitated again when he realised that he really was missing something he hadn't noticed before.

The FBI man turned and looked about him whilst still trying to keep his gun pointed at Gary.

"Walter!" He called across the graveyard. He got no reply and tried calling several more times, becoming more panicked each time.

Walter? Gary thought to himself, that wasn't quite right. He had to admit that he had never watched the show much but he could never have got this man's partner confused with somebody called Walter. He didn't mention it though, from what he did remember, it was probably best to tread carefully where this man was concerned.

Walter still wasn't putting in an appearance, the FBI man was greatly affected by this, he was starting to look like his whole world was falling apart; Gary knew the feeling. So, Gary thought, the partner was missing and as far as he knew the man standing before him was supposed to be a fictional character. Bombs mess up time portals, Gary suddenly thought, but could a bomb make fiction real? Suppose it depends who is in charge and how they work, Gary added to his thoughts.

Gary was sure the FBI man had forgotten about his gun now, he turned and stared into the distance, he wasn't even pretending to point it at them any longer. Xavier urged for them to go but Gary's curiosity was aroused now.

"It's OK," Gary tried to reassure, "This is the turn of the century, he can't shoot us without having to answer for it and he has no reason."

"But why stay?" Xavier asked.

"Because he's lost somebody and I have an idea where they may have gone."

Xavier smiled, "Slipped through a portal?"

"Maybe, he'll never get anywhere without our help." Gary explained. "Can we stay?"

The FBI man called pointlessly and desperately for Walter again.

"I don't like to see anybody miss somebody that much." Xavier answered soberly.

The FBI man suddenly headed for the park bench and sat himself down next to Gary. He leaned forward, dropped the gun on the ground and wrapped his arms round his head.

"I can't do this anymore," He said almost to himself, "Not twice in one week."

"How long has she been missing?" Gary asked.

"Since last night, we following a man in the dark and he disappeared and so did she. We came back here to look for a clue of where she had gone and I saw the man again and followed him; he disappeared again and I ended up with you."

At least, Gary thought, time travel would be easier to explain in these circumstances, no doubt the FBI man already had a much more bizarre theory.

"Walter!" the FBI man wailed suddenly.

Gary could hear the sound of somebody running towards them, he turned to look. A large man came towards them, dressed in a dark suit and also brandishing a gun. As he got closer Gary realised that he knew who this man was too. This was Walter, Assistant Director Walter Skinner.

"Mulder!" the man barked, "What the hell is going on here?"

Mulder jumped up at the sound of the man's voice. "I thought I'd lost you too, I was calling for you over and over, where were you?"

"Just over there." Walter said pointing into the trees at the other side of the graveyard, "I only heard you the once."

"I lost him." Mulder said referring to the man they had both been chasing.

"I see that, who are these people?" Walter asked gesturing towards Xavier and Gary. Xavier shrank back, Walter was also waving a handgun around and although he wasn't any taller than Mulder, he was far scarier looking.

Mulder belatedly remembered what he had been doing; he retrieved his gun and pointed it at Xavier and Gary. Walter shook his head in exasperation at Mulder's neglect for his weapon.

"They know something," Mulder gestured at Gary, "He knew that somebody I knew had gone missing, he was amused."

"Mulder, we've never met these people before." Walter countered.

"I know," Mulder continued now gesturing towards Xavier, "But he became panic stricken when I showed my ID, you had better check, I think you'll find he's wanted."

Walter sighed, "They are two men sitting on a park bench, that's all Mulder, now put the gun away and that's an order."

"You're not my boss any more Walter." Mulder retorted sharply.

Walter flinched at his remark; Mulder had obviously hit a nerve, Gary thought as he watched the exchange with fascination.

"Just put the gun away anyway." Walter insisted.

"Check." Mulder insisted.

Walter walked away and took out a cell phone.

"Gary," Xavier whispered, "That man Mulder, I recognise the name from somewhere, I don't know where."

"Me too," Gary replied, "I know where though, keep quiet for now."

"OK," Xavier agreed knowing that it wasn't wise to say too much in front of the man himself. Xavier searched through his memory desperately trying to remember where he had heard of Mulder before, he was sure he had never seen him.

Gary watched as Walter spoke on the cell phone at length and observed the puzzled expression grow on his face. He returned to Mulder when the shock started to take over.

Mulder looked worried, "What is it?"

"I can't get access." Walter replied his face blank and stunned.

"What? They won't give you clearance?" Mulder responded.

Walter shook his head, "No, not just that, they wouldn't even acknowledge my identity, when I asked to speak to the director by name they said that there was no person of that name at the FBI, I asked to be put through to the X-files office and they said that no such department existed."

Gary thought that now was as good as any to offer up his explanation, they were rapidly heading towards having to face it anyway.

"Time-travel," he said simply. "The east end is littered with time portals, you've obviously wandered through one."

Mulder's eyes lit up, "I told you Walter, that business in the Bermuda triangle you wouldn't believe me about, I went back to 1939. This is just like that," he pointed to Gary with his gun, "I see it now, look he's wearing 1940s clothes, I bet we're going to be in the Blitz tonight."

"If that were true Mulder, I wouldn't have been able to get through to the FBI at all." Walter snapped.

"OK, fine." Mulder snapped back, he turned to Gary, "What is the date?" he asked.

"June 2000." Gary answered, thinking that whatever time they had ever been in was irrelevant; they weren't supposed to exist in real life anyway.

Mulder looked deflated.

"See," Walter said, "June 2000, so much for time-travel."

"Parallel universe perhaps," Xavier joined the conversation, "The portals are likely to be capable of anything since the bomb. You could have just time-travelled a few hours, you wouldn't notice it when you came through."

Mulder and Walter compared watches and then looked at Gary's as he offered them his wrist.

"Nine minutes." Mulder said, his thoughts miles away, "Nine minutes."

"Now what?" Walter asked in his characteristic stern voice, now having abandoned denial.

"Now you walk up and down the graveyard until your phone can pick up an answer from somebody you know, unless you know where you came through."

"Great!" Walter replied looking around him.

"Or you could stay for a while to see if your partner is here too." Gary suggested looking to Mulder.

Walter gave Gary a very stern look.

"Don't you want him to find her?" Gary asked in return.

"Who said his partner was female?" Walter responded.

Mulder was pacing up and down deep in thought, talking almost to himself as he considered the possibilities.

"Of course there is more than one portal," Gary offered, "And each one seems to be tuned to one person or another. Xavier and I can get through the same portals as each other because we're related. With you two it could be just a coincidence. I don't know what the chances are of your partner getting through the same one. She might not be here. There's no way of telling what with the bomb messing things up, she could be in any time or even an alternative reality different to this one."

"What is this about a bomb, you keep mentioning it?" Walter cut in.

"All this is gone," Xavier said, "In 2053 a bomb is destined to reduce the entire east end to rubble, nothing for miles. There is something about bombs which messes with the portal system; new ones, existing ones that behave differently."

"And you know this how?" Walter asked sceptically.

"We've been there," Gary said, "I've been travelling for seven years."

"We have to look. Walter?" Mulder pleaded.

"Yes, but it's getting late," Walter replied looking at Mulder with some sympathy at last, "Tomorrow morning."

Mulder looked resigned; apparently Walter being gentle worked much better, "We'll need some help." Mulder said looking towards Gary.

"We are staying in a hotel not far from here, I'll give you our address and number," Walter said reaching inside his coat for paper and a pen, "Can we offer you a lift anywhere?"

"I think you'll find," Gary said without humour, "That you no longer have a car or a hotel room."

"Damn," Mulder said, "We were on FBI expenses too."

"You had better come with us, we're staying in a small place near here, they will probably have another room."

"We couldn't possibly impose." Walter said.

"I'm a time traveller from the future," Gary said, he enjoyed this bit, "I'll enter the lottery tomorrow."

_A Guest House in the East end, 8pm, June 2000_

Gary helped Xavier get ready for bed, it was still early for that but he was exhausted. Their newfound companions were settling in next door, they could hear them moving about.

"So who are they then?" Xavier asked as he struggled to keep his eyes open long enough to hear the answer.

"Do you recall Walter mentioning that the X files department didn't exist anymore?"

"Yes," Xavier replied, then his eyes opened wide, "I remember now, that's it, a thing my father said when he was going out to work sometimes, when I was small. He had two jobs, one in a hospital and another he did evenings sometimes. It was a joke he shared with my mother, as he was leaving he would often say he was 'off to the X files'. Years later they stopped doing it but I know where it came from, my father had boxes full of computer print outs, stories about a team of investigators looking into strange phenomena. They were old, from his med school days, he told me it had been a TV show, I never saw it."

"Where did he get these stories?"

"Off the internet."

"So he was doing work that was secret in some way?"

"Yes, it would appear so. Anyway, I didn't know who they were by sight, but I know the names Mulder and Skinner."

"And Scully?"

Xavier smiled, "Yes, that's who they've lost, we've got to help them find her."

"There's one problem with this scenario," Gary said as he helped Xavier get into bed, "They're internet fan-fiction, TV show characters, cult icons at most."

"But they're living and breathing in the room next door."

"Exactly."

"I read a few of those stories, some take on a vastly different scenario to the accepted chain of events in the original, it called 'alternative universe' Gary."

Gary shook his head, as he got ready for bed too, "It's still fiction though."

Gary climbed into the small single bed and snuggled up to Xavier. Since they'd been saved from the jaws of death by their ability to time-travel he didn't like to complain but he wished that he had had the nerve to blatantly ask for a double room in the year 2000.

"Maybe in some reality somewhere we're all TV shows." Xavier reflected jokingly.

"You're delirious, go to sleep."

"Well they honestly believed they could get through to an X files department in Washington, don't you think it strange that the people there just didn't recognise the department?" Xavier continued suddenly realising and becoming more serious.

"Hmm?" Gary mumbled as sleep was looming near for him too.

"They should have presumed it was a crank call and cut Walter off, that's all. The X Files was still in production in the year 2000, wasn't it? No, there's more to this, I think we've swapped realities too."

"I think I'm starting to get a headache." Gary groaned burying his head in the pillow dramatically.

_A Guest House in the East end, 9.30pm, June 2000_

Gary was woken by a loud pounding on his door, it was still light outside as he looked at his watch. He was glad Xavier was somehow managing to sleep through it. He got out of bed reluctantly and went to open the door. Half of his brain wanted it to be important to justify getting up and the other wanted it to be nonsense so that he could go back to bed. He swung the door open to find Walter standing there.

"Mulder is gone from the room, is he with you?" Walter demanded.

"No." Gary answered looking understandably confused.

"I went for a walk, he was thinking, he often sits on his own and watches TV when he's thinking. I came back just now to find the TV playing and Mulder gone."

Gary stepped out of the bedroom wearing the latest in 21st century retro styling night attire, which looked suspiciously like 1940s pyjamas except that he was allowed a pocket. He followed Walter into the next room to observe that the TV was indeed playing to itself and there was no sign of Mulder.

"We have to find him, he may have come up with some wild theory, he always gets into trouble when he's like this." Walter pleaded.

Gary looked at the TV and had a thought, he remembered what Xavier had said, 'maybe in some reality somewhere we're all TV shows'; and TV shows had actors who turned up to award ceremonies which were broadcast on TV themselves. On the TV in Mulder and Walter's room the first acceptance speech was being given, the BAFTAS presented in London in June and televised live.

Gary pointed to the TV screen; "He's seen her on there." He stated. "Or rather he thinks he has."

"What does that mean?" Walter asked.

"It means go downstairs and call us a cab." Gary replied falling into his old familiar 1940s spy persona, modified slightly for the possibility of global conspiracies.

"Where are we going? Is Mulder in trouble?"

Gary smiled knowingly, "Not the kind of trouble he's used to, I imagine."

Walter started off down the hall shaking his head; "You can explain this to me in a straightforward manner on the way there."

Gary went back into his own room and leant over Xavier, he was sleeping soundly and it seemed such a shame to wake him. That was better than running the risk of him waking up to find them all gone though.

"Xavier," Gary said gently rocking him awake, "I have to go out for a while, Mulder's gone missing, and we have to find him. I want you to stay here and get some rest."

"What happened?" Xavier asked sleepily as he turned to face Gary.

Gary was struggling to get dressed as he was explaining to Xavier. "I think he might have seen Gillian Anderson arriving at an award ceremony, she was the actress who played Scully in our reality. I think he's gone down there to get her."

"Oh shit."

"A good choice of words, I am sorry, but I have to go."

Xavier grabbed a hold of Gary's arm, "Take the number of the hotel and call me," Xavier insisted, "Walter's phone still works."

"I want you to rest."

"I won't be able to if you just disappear."

"OK, I promise I will." Gary said, "I have to go."

Xavier nodded and closed his eyes once more, not opening them again till he heard the door click shut.

Gary met Walter at the front door and the cab arrived shortly after. They drove across London in virtual silence; Gary presumed that Walter must be worried about Mulder. They got out of the cab a few streets away from the theatre in which the award ceremony was taking place. Walter reckoned that Mulder wouldn't be able to gain entry but he might be outside trying to access the building somehow. Gary agreed with him and followed.

They circled round the building and although it felt a bit creepy, he knew whom he was with. Walter was bigger than he seemed on TV, broad and not to be messed with. Walter had drawn his gun in the darkness and Gary wished he had one too, if only to feel the part. They walked along slowly; there was no sign of Mulder.

Without much warning he was grabbed from behind and slammed against a brick wall, his hands held above him and his cheek scraping the brick. The barrel of a gun was pressed harshly against his head.

"I've got some questions for you." Walter hissed in Gary's ear.

"OK." Gary replied weakly.

"I want to know what you know and I want to know who you are working for, although I think I have a few ideas." Walter said pushing Gary more firmly into the wall.

"I'm not working for anybody, I'm just a time traveller." Gary started knowing how inadequate it sounded. One problem though, if he started to tell all he knew he would definitely start to sound as if he was working for the Consortium; he knew what Walter was getting at, even from only seeing a few shows he could work that one out.

"That doesn't tell me anything." Walter said squeezing Gary's hands harder.

"You are not going to believe the truth."

"Believe me, I've been asked to believe a lot of things in my life."

"Let me go and I'll talk." Gary tried.

"Start with why we're down here searching around a theatre expecting to find Mulder." Walter insisted holding Gary tighter than ever.

"The last time I was in the twentieth century The X-files was the name of a TV show, Mulder was in it, he had a partner called Scully." Gary began, "I know what she looks like, she was played by an actress called Gillian Anderson. I think he may have seen Gillian Anderson at the award ceremony on TV. It looks like you didn't just lose nine minutes, you wandered into a different reality." Gary missed out the bit about thinking that they had all changed realities, life was complicated enough for the time being.

"OK, that's right up there in the top ten of my weird list, what else?" Walter responded.

"I don't know, I didn't watch the show much, I was too busy time travelling. You work for the FBI but they don't recognise you any longer. Scully isn't very tall and she has red hair. There are some creepy bad guys and one in particular smokes a lot. Your secretary's name is Kim."

Gary could tell that Walter was staring at him, his grip on him relaxed slightly.

Gary continued, "Mulder was shot by Scully to stop him killing Krycek." Gary sighed, "I can't think of anything that I can tell you which you won't think the Consortium might have found out."

They were interrupted by the sound of many men running, they were headed for the alley. They watched as a man came into view, he was being chased by the others. Walter let go of Gary instinctively responding to this other threat. Gary thought it strange, if he really was a bad guy he could have grabbed the gun and it would all be now over.

Then Gary saw what Walter saw, it was Mulder running towards them. As he came close, Walter reached out and grabbed him then pulled him into a nearby doorway with his hand over Mulder's mouth to stifle his protests. They all held their breath as they listened to the running men come perilously close then run off into the distance. Walter eased his hand from Mulder's mouth.

"Jesus Walter, you want to give me a heart attack?" Mulder protested rubbing his jaw.

"What the hell were you doing?" Walter barked and the colour drained from Mulder's face.

Mulder looked down at his shoes, "I thought I saw her, she was different but so alike, I couldn't get in to see her." Once Mulder got started, the words flooded out. "She was on TV wearing a beautiful ball gown and she was smiling and waving to the cameras as she went into the theatre. I just switched channels and she was there." Mulder continued shaking his head.

"Who was chasing you?" Walter asked holding one of Mulder's arms in each hand.

"I don't know," Mulder said feeling overwhelmed, "I got to the doorway of the theatre and realised that everybody was already inside. There were some men with cameras outside who recognised me, I don't know who they were. They came after me so I just ran."

Walter took a deep breath and at last noticed Gary again. "Gary here as an interesting theory he would like to tell you about, I dare you to come up with anything stranger."

"I'm not saying a thing to either of you two until you put that gun away, whatever you might think, I'm not one of them." Gary said firmly, he was feeling very tired and he wanted to call Xavier like he had promised.

"What have you been doing?" Mulder asked Walter, he put his gun away and hid it with his jacket. Walter gave Mulder what can only be described as 'a look'; from Mulder's reaction, it was familiar.

"He knows too much." Walter said simply.

"I am tired, Xavier has just lost his father and he needs me. I'm trying to help you two find Scully because I know what it's like to lose someone you care about. I've told you a bit of why I know what I do, I don't care about any conspiracies, cigarette smoking men, consortiums or any of that." Gary said reaching the end of his rope, "I would like to borrow your phone to call Xavier and I would like to get some sleep."

Mulder and Walter exchanged a look, Walter handed over his phone and Gary headed off down the alley towards the main road.

"I'm getting a taxi back," Gary called to them, "You can share it with me if you like."

The next morning, London, Somewhere in time

Scully felt as if she couldn't keep going any longer. She knew she looked as bad as she could probably get, the bath at The Ritz felt like a million years away. She tried to stand and stretch her cold and aching legs. If only Mulder could see her now, she thought, sleeping in a graveyard through a chilly June night with no more to cover her than her suit jacket. She had not been robbed, the surroundings were cosmopolitan, she was not lost in the wilderness but it might as well have been the moon. She was alone with nobody to call on, no favours owing to her from their many contacts. In despair, she had returned to the place where it had all gone wrong, clinging to it like a security blanket full of the germs acquired through constant use. It was light now but still very early, she knew she should get walking to get warmed up but she hadn't had anything to eat in twenty-four hours; it was hard to get started.

Once she got under way Scully didn't stop for a long time, she wanted to shake away the feelings and the hunger and think straight. She felt light headed with exhaustion; although she had lain still beneath a headstone she had gained very little rest. By mid morning she had lost track of her whereabouts and was passing a large library. To Scully, this now meant warmth and comfort more than anything but in the back of her mind she considered looking at a few select books too.

Scully found a quiet area towards the back windows of an upper floor opposite the history section. All the reading areas were in the form of single desks with two-foot high dividing screens between them, she flopped down on a chair and rested her head down on the table. It was warm in the library and she had a good degree of privacy, she closed her eyes. She should know better than this, she thought as sleep started to creep up on her, as a doctor she knew she shouldn't be believing that a nap in a library would solve anything. She would wake hungry still, it was only a matter of time before she got a headache; she closed her eyes anyway.

She was woken, she thought, by a voice. She felt the presence of somebody with her even before she opened her eyes. When she did look up, she saw a man she had never seen before looking down at her and smiling.

"What the hell are you looking at?" she snapped.

"Agent Scully?" the man enquired.

Scully's emotions were intense, she gained so much comfort from hearing her own name that she almost forgot that she still didn't recognise the person who had said it.

"Yes." Scully replied.

"You want to know the truth?" the man asked tipping his head to the side.

"Yes." Scully replied as if mesmerised, which in a way she was.

"The truth is that there is no truth."

"What?"

"To every man his own truth and the God within."

"You had better explain yourself." Scully tried to insist.

"All of it, everything that you fight for, fight against, every strange thing you encounter is just an illusion."

"An illusion?"

"Yes, the Consortium are as much puppets as anybody else, even the aliens, everything."

"Do you by chance have any proof at all?" Scully snapped.

"No," the man conceded, "Nothing other than yourself. You've stepped out. Don't think too much about the cigarette smoking man's little games, they are nothing compared to the whole."

"All I want to know is where my partner is."

"Mulder is far away from here." The man said simply.

"How do I get back?" Scully asked.

"By returning the way you came."

Scully could have screamed, she had already tried that one. "Have I gone back in time?" she asked hardly believing that she was even considering it.

"No," the man said simply, "Not back, not more than a few hours." He started to back away.

"Who are you?" She called after him, "How do I get out of here?"

"I am an operative of The Order Of The Golden Dawn."

"What do I have to do to get out of here?" Scully persisted.

"Rewind, just rewind."

"Is Mulder alive?"

The man smiled, "Nobody dies on 'The X-files'. Tell the others I was here." The man dipped behind a bookcase and by the time Scully got there to look, he had gone completely.

Scully found herself wandering the streets again, she couldn't think straight. She was too hungry and far too tired to be able to make sense of much. She made her way back to the graveyard and studied it closely. There was nothing about any particular bit that she could distinguish from another, as far as the subject of time portals was concerned. She wasn't even sure why she had returned.

People had still been staring at her again as soon as she had ventured outside. Although she wondered why, more than this she just wanted them to stop. There was still someone out there looking out for her, not long after she had begun to despair of ever feeling comfortable again, she spotted a shop. She found herself a cheap black wig cut to shoulder length and a centre parting. It cost too much, she should have bought some food, Scully found herself thinking as she slipped the wig onto her head as best she could in the reflection of the shop window.

She walked out onto the streets of the East End not feeling as grateful to have her privacy back as she had thought she would be. She looked like a tramp and she was desperately hungry, she couldn't even sustain a constant emotion. It was perhaps this, which had eventually brought her back to the graveyard; there was nowhere else to go.

It wasn't long before Scully realised that on top of everything else, she was lost. She was standing in an alleyway and the graveyard was nowhere to be seen. She had no idea which way to turn, she had been walking in what she thought was the right direction, a daydream had took over her mind and that was it. She was too hungry to be thinking straight. A smell of cooked food reached her nose and her stomach growled painfully, she sought out the source. Walking down the alleyway a pub soon came into view. You have no money, she thought as she approached it. She prayed to the God she wasn't sure was there anymore that the landlord was feeling generous.

A Guest House in the East end, 8am, June 2000

Gary woke up to find that Xavier was already awake and was watching him.

"Are you OK?" Gary asked.

"I was just thinking about what we do next."

"Well we need to get rid of those two next door first."

"Just seems a bit empty after all that danger and rushing about, if it wasn't for them I don't know how I would cope." Xavier said looking upset and a little frightened.

"We'll get settled, we'll manage." Gary replied.

"She's gone though isn't she?" Xavier asked.

Gary knew exactly what he meant but didn't know how to reply, he placed a hand on Xavier's head in an attempt to reassure.

There was a knock at the door and Gary tried to ignore it.

"We need to check this place out, with changing realities anything could have happened, but I will try to make us the best home I can." Gary tried to reassure.

There was another knock at the door.

"It seemed ok to me, I didn't see any trouble." Xavier replied.

"Hey are you two up yet?" Came a call from the other side of the door accompanied by some more banging.

"We really need to get rid of them." Gary said to Xavier as he swung his legs out of the bed and headed for the door.

Gary let Mulder in and he danced round his personal space in a state of nervous hyperactivity then suddenly noticing something he stopped.

"Hey I recognise you from somewhere," Mulder said.

"I don't think so," Gary replied a bit annoyed at the intrusion.

"No, I do, I've seen you before," Mulder continued obviously trying to think.

Gary noticed that one of Mulder's hands had also gone to his holster, he didn't feel comfortable with this man's level of paranoia. Xavier was pushing himself up to a sitting position and was looking very anxious.

Mulder didn't do very much, however. He wandered around the room for a few minutes then became so lost in thought that he completely dismissed what he had come for in the first place and started to drift out of the room. Gary and Xavier were just starting to relax when Mulder suddenly swung round and exclaimed, "I've got it!"

"We have never met before yesterday," Gary tried to insist.

"No we haven't," Mulder said his eyes gleaming with his mental success, "Goodnight Sweetheart," he added by way explanation.

"What?" Gary asked quite rightly confused but beginning to suspect what this might be all about.

"PBS late at night, you with two wives, though I have to say I don't remember a boyfriend," Mulder said still thinking it all through, "Yes, this all fits, you're a time traveller."

"What is going on?" Xavier asked Gary.

"He thinks I am a character from a TV drama like he is, very weird."

"No you were in a comedy, you were cheating on two wives and nearly getting caught all the time, lying your way out of it; I don't sleep much."

"I don't see how any of this can be considered a comedy," Xavier said feeling offended.

"Was there a point to your visit?" Gary asked Mulder.

Mulder stopped and tried to recall his reason for knocking on their door, " Er, we need to get out on the streets to look for Scully, Walter says. Those men who came after me might chase her too." Mulder said.

_The Royal Oak, Whitechapel, Somewhere in time._

Scully walked through the door to the pub and as she approached the bar her senses where hit with the smell of cooking food, it was so much stronger inside and she could tell that it would be really tasty. She was suddenly overcome with hunger and didn't know how she could stay without begging. As she approached the bar a large man walked towards her on the serving side. She tried to smile at him.

"What can I get you?" the man asked.

Scully realised what she was going to be asking of him and wanted to save herself the embarrassment by running out into the street. "I have no money." She found herself saying.

The man had dark hair and was quite big, he had a friendly smile and a rough beard but by no means did he look stupid. "An American with no money?" He mused, smiling to himself. He turned to go.

"No wait!" Scully called after him, "What I meant was, could I work for you?"

"That's not how things are done." The man stated but she had got his attention.

"I know." Scully said trying to look as cute and girly as possible, "But I really would appreciate it."

The man smiled, "Right." The man said looking her up and down.

Scully hated herself at this moment but it couldn't be helped, "So what do you say?" She asked.

"I say, work for today on trial, then we'll see." The man replied.

"Ok," Scully smiled moving towards the bar hatch, "What's your name?"

"Victor." Her new boss replied, "Victor McGuire."

"Nice to meet you." Scully said offering her hand.

_A Guest House in the East end, 9am, June 2000_

Xavier sat on the edge of the bed looking at Gary sternly.

"I'll be as quick as I can, then I'll be back and that will be end of it."

"Right," Xavier replied, "I didn't come with you to end up being left on my own in strange places."

"We're leaving Mulder as well, he'll keep you company."

"He is the enemy."

"Not in this time."

"He's weird."

Gary hesitated, "Well yes, but not dangerous."

"I want to come with you."

"If I go with Walter it'll be…"

"Quicker?" Xavier snapped.

"You need the rest."

"I need not to have to think." Xavier said grimly. "I'm done resting."

Despite his resolve Gary saw that Xavier did still look tired and he held his left hand on his lap and made no attempt to use it.

Xavier saw where Gary was looking. "It is painful with arthritis, it's just my wrist. I'm not staying behind." He insisted.

"I was just trying to look after you."

"Well my wrist is going to hurt anyway, but I need to keep my mind off things and do something."

Gary smiled, "Ok, but just tell me when you've had enough."

"I ran the bar in London didn't I? Don't treat me like I'm less capable than I am."

"Ok ok," Gary said giving in, "We're going back to the graveyard and the surrounding streets; I don't know what else we can do."

"Ask at doors, she can't have stayed outside all this time." Xavier suggested.

"She could be in any one of a million different realities," Gary said looking grim, "I hope we don't end up stuck with those two."

Gary knelt down by one of the cases and started searching through the contents. He pulled out a fabric wrist support that had splints to hold it rigid. Xavier let Gary put it on, although he didn't like to wear it, he knew that with his wrist supported he would be able to use his hand a little.

"This all so pointless, what are we going to do other than wander around the streets?" Xavier commented.

"Maybe if we walk round the graveyard enough they'll accidentally slip into another time and they'll not be our problem any longer." Gary suggested.

Mulder was unhappy to be left behind but taking him was too risky. He seemed to be as much of a celebrity as Scully was, if all the cameramen were anything to go by.

By lunchtime they found themselves outside The Royal Oak. Although Xavier hadn't said anything he was getting slower and was leaning on Gary's arm more; they really needed a break.

"This place looks friendly enough." Walter commented gesturing to the pub. Gary really didn't want to go in, it seemed like asking for trouble. Xavier needed a rest though and he had no real reason for declining; he had never had any connection with the pub except in the past.

"Is this the place?" Xavier asked Gary recognising the name.

"Yes," Gary replied as they moved towards the front door, "The very same."

As they entered the pub Xavier took in his surroundings, he was finally seeing the places he had been told about. He noticed some small holes in the brickwork near the door, which looked like bullet holes, but he didn't say anything. All the traditional pubs like The Royal Oak had been symbolically torn down when alcohol became illegal so he had never been in one like this before.

When they entered the pub Xavier sank down into the nearest seat by the door and let Gary approach the bar. There was only one women serving and she had her back to them; they waited. From what Xavier could tell the interior looked essentially unchanged from the 1940s, he would have to check with Gary to confirm it. Xavier was in awe, it was all becoming more real to him than it had ever done, only a 1940s visit would have made experience more complete.

Xavier felt like he was being watched, when he looked to his right there were three men sat at a table and they were all looking at him. They didn't look very pleasant and when they noticed that Xavier had seen them they stood up and approached him. They looked menacing, a bit like drinkoes and definitely not wanting a social chat. Xavier tried to call to Gary but he didn't hear across the noise of the talking and music.

Gary stood at the bar waiting for the barmaid to serve them. She was leaning down to a fridge and taking out some beers the she stood up and went out back. Gary turned to Walter.

"I think we should stay here for a while, Xavier needs to rest." Gary announced.

"Fine with me," Walter replied, "If we ever get served."

Another group came into the pub and approached the bar blocking Xavier's view of Gary anyway but the three men came to stand at his table. Xavier grabbed the crutch that rested on the chair at his side though he wasn't sure what they intended to do and what he was going to do in response.

"So what's scum like you doing in here?" One of the men asked.

Xavier prayed for Gary to return quickly. "I am with friends." Xavier replied because he couldn't think of anything else.

"Friends ey?" One of the men said and they all erupted in laughter. "Nobody here is your friend."

Xavier was stunned, he was clutching his crutch in front of him, making it clear he was too easy to bother with but they were standing their ground.

Gary was still stood at the bar when a rather large man approached. Gary could hardly remember what they were going to order when he noticed who the man looked like, almost identically like Ron. It was the Ron he remembered from his time travelling days not the old man who was Xavier's father.

"What can I get you?" He asked.

Somehow Gary managed to deliver a list of drinks and tag a 'please' on the end. He was mesmerised watching this Ron sort out his order. Somebody called 'Victor' from somewhere behind the bar area and the Ron look-alike answered. Gary was amused, Victor? How the original Ron would have laughed to hear it.

Gary was broken out of his thoughts by a commotion near the door, he turned round and peered through the throng to see a table overturned and a man on the floor being kicked by a group of thugs.

"That's where Xavier was sat." Walter announced launching himself through the crowd. He grabbed each thug in turn rendering them temporarily incapable of further action as he went. Gary followed quickly behind and as soon as he could get through made for the curled up form on the floor. He flinched at Gary's touch; it was Xavier. Gary spoke to him; making sure that he new it was him and helped him up onto the seat again.

Xavier immediately sank into Gary's arms and wouldn't look up; he said he was all right. Gary watched as Victor came pushing through the throng.

"I don't want any trouble in here." Victor announced, "I'm barring you lot, get out of my pub now!"

Gary was shocked to find that the men who had attacked Xavier were limping back to their drinks and they were the ones getting thrown out.

"My friend here was the victim." He said indignantly.

"You had no business bringing him in here." Victor continued in a broad scouse accent filled with distaste, none of this alerted Xavier, which Gary was glad of.

Gary had no idea what was going on but he didn't intend to stay to find out.

"If this is a pub for some loony political nutters then they really should declare it on the door." He commented to Walter.

"Walter!" A woman with dark brown hair called from across the pub, she was rapidly approaching them but seemed friendly. As she got closer Gary noticed with shock and relief that it was a Scully if not the real one. She would do, he thought.

"Oh, look it's Scully!" He said just to cement the idea.

"You're going to have to leave," Scully said as she stood before them. "Where's Mulder."

Walter was in shock but managed to tell her he was back at the hotel.

"I thought you would never find me. I can't wait to see him." She said brimming with joy.

Gary noted an engagement ring on one of her fingers but chose to say nothing. Scully pulled what turned out to be a wig from her head to reveal a head of auburn hair. Maybe it was the right one, Gary thought.

"Can you stand?" Gary asked Xavier.

"Yes." Xavier said finally lifting his head, "I'm just going to be a bit bruised."

Xavier looked a bit shaken but he managed to walk with Gary's help and they took a taxi back to the hotel.

Once back in Walter and Mulder's room Walter woke Mulder who had fallen asleep on the bed and presented Scully to him. Mulder immediately leapt to his feet and hugged Scully. Just when Gary was beginning to think things were going to go smoothly, Mulder let go of Scully and wrapped himself round Walter planting a more than friendly kiss on the big man's lips. Whilst Scully was beginning to look suitably horrified Walter returned the kiss. Gary felt he had to interrupt before things got needlessly complicated.

"Well now that you've all found each other again, we had better go find a portal." Gary said brightly.

Once the group had been safely posted through some portal or other Gary quickly returned to Xavier. He had gotten up on the bed and looked exhausted.

"They're gone then?" Xavier asked.

"Yes, all gone."

Xavier pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bed grimacing with the effort.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Gary asked.

"I'm not sure I like it round here, was this what it was like?" Xavier responded looking upset.

"Sometimes, in the wrong places, suppose I never visited The Royal Oak in the present before, bit of a shock." Gary replied sitting beside Xavier.

"My father always said it was a lovely old pub in the forties," Xavier added.

"Whereas now it's full of thugs."

Xavier looked a bit apprehensive and nervous, Gary thought.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"It's just I was thinking about Mulder and Scully." Xavier replied.

"Yes?"

"He was with Walter wasn't he?"

"I think he was very much 'with' Walter."

"Only Scully was wearing a ring, an engagement ring, and the way she looked at him."

Gary went a bit white, "You mean?"

"Well, we didn't exactly check did we?" Xavier pointed out. "That was the wrong bloody Scully!"


	3. Trust No One

Part Three Trust No One

Gary and Xavier found that in the following days, neither Mulder, Scully nor Walter had come back to them complaining they had been sent back to the wrong dimension. After seven days had passed Gary had stopped looking over his shoulder every time they went near the graveyard. In fact they hadn't run into any body vaguely resembling them. Xavier didn't say anything but Gary thought he was glad as well. They could work on getting themselves settled in this new London.

It was a sunny and bright day despite the fact it was England and Gary thought that Xavier was looking more relaxed than he had been since his father's death. He himself felt quite relaxed, he was even getting used to the stares, he supposed it was because he was with Xavier though he didn't think it was that obvious. In any case the sun was doing more than enough to compensate.

"You know," Xavier began, "I could just fancy a burger."

Gary eyed his partner with mock suspicion, "A burger?"

"Hmm." Xavier affirmed looking as if it was the most heavenly thing he could think of.

"Really?" Gary queried reluctant to admit he was being serious.

"Well yes, they did have them in your time didn't they?" Xavier asked, "We didn't have them, American businesses had been all but banned by the time I was old enough. Of course they had us screwed with the computer market."

"Ok, then." Gary reluctantly agreed, "If that's what you want."

"Will there be one near here?" Xavier asked.

Gary smiled, "Oh I imagine if we walk for a couple of minutes we're bound to run into one."

"I don't remember seeing one."

"No? They're everywhere." Gary replied looking about him, sure enough there wasn't one within his line of vision, no Pizza Hut either.

They started walking and looking out for either McDonald's or Burger King, Xavier wasn't fussy. Gary was also looking out for all the other chains too, Subway, Pizza Hut, there must be a Starbucks coming up soon he thought. Gary didn't want to think anything of it but he couldn't help but look out for a Marks and Spencer too.

By the time they had walked the length of Oxford Street and half of Tottenham Court Road Gary was getting really worried and Xavier was getting really slow.

"You ok?" Gary asked, "Maybe we should just get the tube to Kensington or something."

Xavier looked tired, "I think we should just forget about it and get something to eat elsewhere."

"I know there's one on Kensington High Street and somebody will let you have a seat on the tube." Gary offered not entirely convinced himself.

Xavier agreed and they headed off for the tube. A train came in as they reached the platform and when they got on to Gary's profound irritation his worst fears were realised, not one person relinquished a seat, in fact he could have sword they glared at them both. He had to hold onto Xavier who had sensed his mood and told him to leave it; the people on the train glared at them the whole way.

Gary was relieved to be back on the street and he could tell Xavier was too. They walked from one end to the other and they found a number of department stores but nothing else and Gary was astonished to find Kensington High Street market was selling fruit and veg. No Marks and Spencer, not a single one the whole length of the street.

"I don't even feel hungry anymore." Xavier said as Gary was pondering their next move.

Gary observed him, Xavier sounded weary and he found that he was looking quite pale and very tired.

"You're not just tired are you?" Gary asked.

"No." Xavier said quietly, never one to make a fuss.

"Right, we'll back then, I'll get us something else to eat and I'll buy a paper on our way." Gary said as they set off back towards the tube.

"A paper? Since when have you been interested in the news?" Xavier asked.

"Scully never questioned that she had the right Mulder."

"And we know better, so how will a paper help?"

"We assumed rather too much about this London." Gary elaborated.

Xavier suddenly looked as worried as he knew he was himself and he had been hoping to avoid it.

In between the tube station and the hotel they passed a newsagent and Gary bought an evening paper. Xavier was really flagging now but Gary knew that if he wandered around too much without him, he might go through a portal and they would be separated, he couldn't risk it.

Xavier slumped on the bed as soon as they got through the door; he lay back and closed his eyes after Gary lifted his legs up. Leaving his partner to sleep Gary sat in the easy chair by the window and unfolded the paper to look at the first page.

It was with an uncharacteristic amount of self-restraint that he managed to remain silent when he first saw what he read there. Or rather what he couldn't read on the right hand side of the page since it was in German. He found the mere sight of print on paper could strike terror deep into his innards; he didn't need a degree in history to figure out what had been going on for the past 60 years.

Gary tried to remain calm and resisted the urge to wake Xavier and get them to another portal in the dark. Doing things in a rush would only lead to further disasters and they couldn't afford to play this one wrong. Two men together, one crippled, wandering around Fascist London, the only way they could make it worse would be to break a curfew or get caught by some underworld low-life.

He tried to remember when it had got like this but it must have been right from when they left 2053 because they had been with Mulder and Walter virtually the whole time leading up to the incident in The Royal Oak.

Suddenly it all clicked and Gary was certain they would have to find a portal very soon. He had no business taking Xavier in the pub and they had been constantly stared at. Was how he felt in his eyes so that he couldn't hide it? The landlord of Hotel could have reported him by now; they were sharing a room. The bloody Germans had won World War Two, what other explanation could there be.

Gary didn't sleep much that night and Xavier woke with an enthusiasm for shopping which he didn't have the heart to crush. Not yet anyway. He purposely stayed clear of the paper that now lay in the bin, now daylight had come he found he didn't want to know. They had been OK so far; as long as he didn't leave Xavier alone they would be OK for a few more days, long enough to work something out anyway.

They spent the morning on Oxford Street, apart from the staring there didn't seem to be anything wrong, if you ignored the McDonalds, Marks and Spencer thing that is. They both got themselves some new clothes since Gary had mentioned his reservations and Xavier had suggested it might partly to do with his forties clothes and long coat. Gary had been wearing his forties things fulltime for so long now he hadn't even considered it.

"Want some lunch?" Gary asked as the stood on the corner of Charing Cross Road as noon approached.

"Ok," Xavier replied, "But I'm over the burger thing."

They walked down Charing Cross Road and Xavier made him stop outside a scruffy looking pub.

"Oh no, you can not be serious." Gary said wanting to move on.

Although the building had a faded pub sign hanging from it, the windows were boarded up and bill postered.

"But that's the other thing I always wanted to taste, real proper pub food, washed down with a pint of beer." Xavier enthused.

"It's derelict!"

Xavier smiled, "Then the door will be locked."

"Ok," Gary gave in, "But the first sign of trouble and we're leaving."

Xavier smiled and let Gary lead the way, he gave a half hearted push on the door and it swung open easily.

The pub they entered was dark and smoky but it wasn't cigarette smoke, it was more herbal than that. There was no light coming from the street outside, the glow from a large log fire was the only illumination. It reminded Gary of some old village tavern, there was no music playing, no fruit machines or arcade games. The floor was made of bare wood boards, shiny and dark with age not varnish. Surprisingly the pub was relatively full and alive with chatter without being noisy.

That is, it was alive with chatter until they were noticed. One person looked up and then the person next to them was nudged, they looked at them too and then passed the message to their neighbour. In one minute the whole pub had plummeted into silence apart from the fire which continued to pop and crackle.

There were two men sat on chairs by the fire, both dressed completely in black and wearing their equally dark hair long over their shoulders. Gary didn't really know why he notice them more than the others, half hidden away as they were. One of them, maintaining a grave expression stood up and stepped towards them. Gary wasn't going to wait to see how it played out, he took Xavier's arm and they hastened their retreat back onto Charing Cross Road.

Gary flung the doors open and stepped out onto the street quickly followed by Xavier. Then they froze. Charing Cross Road was gone; or rather the one they knew was gone. No cars, no modern street noise, the road was cobbled and the other side of the road was much closer than it ought to have been. His first instinct was to make sure that at least they were still together. Xavier stood beside him with a similar look of shock on his face.

"The portals work both ways don't they, how the hell did we manage this?" Xavier asked.

"I don't know." Gary replied as he stood still frozen to the spot watching the men and women walking up and down the street wearing strange flowing, ankle length clothes.

"Why would there be a portal here anyway, we're miles away."

"I don't know." Gary repeated.

"Do you suppose we've ended up in the past, you know like you did." Xavier continued.

Gary refrained from answering feeling somewhat speechless. There was something not quite right with this scene but he couldn't put his finger on it. He knew only that he had figured it out very quickly when he had been in nineteenth century London but somehow he couldn't quite place this.

They had both completely forgotten about the man that had been approaching them in the pub.

"Mr Sparrow," A deep, refined and lofty voice spoke from behind them, "My apologies for startling you, may we step back inside?"

Gary swung round to face the man, Xavier did too and Gary held on to him as he lost his balance for a moment.

The man regarded them with the same stern face they had first seen but with the merest hint of a raised eyebrow.

"Mr Wheatcroft." He said acknowledging Xavier.

The man was tall, just slightly taller than Gary himself but he had a presence a whole twelve inches taller. He held what seemed to be a glass ball in his hands, larger than a tennis ball, smaller than a football. He glanced at the ball momentarily before putting it away beneath what Gary realised was a cloak. The clothes beneath the cloak were black too, even in the light of the sun. In the close proximity they now found themselves in Gary also noticed the pendant hanging on a chain around the man's neck. It was most certainly gold and was in the form of a symbol two inches across at least, Gary didn't recognise it.

"We have been expecting you." The man stated, "Be kind enough to join us by the hearth."

"Right," Gary replied still feeling a bit stunned, "And your name would be?"

"My apologies," the man replied, "Severus Snape. Order of the Golden Dawn, First Class." With a sweep of black cloak Severus went back inside the pub.

Gary looked at Xavier, "Probably some kind of role playing nonsense." He said.

"Which would explain why Charing Cross Road has disappeared and why he knew our names."

"We could just go." Gary suggested gesturing down the street.

Xavier shook his head, "All our belongings are in an alternative reality and unfortunately he's probably the one who knows why this happened. In any case the portal must be inside the pub somewhere."

"Right," Gary replied, "I was purposely blanking that from my mind."

Not having too many other options Gary and Xavier went back inside the pub. Severus had taken his place in a chair by the fire and the other man he had been with was at the bar. As Gary and Xavier passed they heard him ask the barman for four beers and a little elf type creature came rushing past them with a tray of sandwiches. The rest of the clientele had gone back to their chatting.

"Funny how things only started to get weird after we stopped using drugs." Xavier commented.

"You knew what was going on with Mulder and Walter, any thoughts on this one?" Gary asked before they joined their host.

"The name Severus rings a bell but I don't remember where." Xavier said.

They each sat down in a spare chair alongside Severus. The other man returned with the beer and they accepted the food and drink offered to them, although Gary did sniff it suspiciously first.

"We did try to contact one of your associates a short while ago but we were disturbed." Severus began.

"One of our associates?" Gary queried feeling decidedly uneasy.

"Yes," Severus continued, "A lady with ginger hair, Scully her name was. Though we only had time to answer one of her questions before our operative had to apparate."

"Scully was never one of our 'associates', we only met her for a couple of hours before she went with Mulder and Walter back to their own reality." Gary replied.

"Ah, it is difficult, neither one of you was alone in a situation where you might meet someone by chance, and with enough privacy to talk." Severus stated.

"Although all is well now, you're here." The other men said, up until now he had been leaving it all to Severus.

"And you are?" Gary asked taking the opportunity to find out who the other man was, really he thought it was quite rude that they hadn't been introduced.

The other man looked a bit surprised and looked to Severus for assistance. Severus merely raised an eyebrow at him and said nothing, though Gary thought he saw the man's mouth twitch in amusement.

The other man stood up and held out a hand to Gary, "I'm Harry." He said.

Gary took the hand and they completed the gesture, as Gary let go the man appeared to be anticipating something but he didn't know what. They both sat back down.

Gary eyed them both with suspicion, "So how come we didn't have to introduce ourselves?" Gary asked.

Severus handled the glass ball from behind his cloak without bringing it out again.

"There is something you should know about the portals." Severus stated, "But I'm not sure here is the place to discuss the details."

Gary was surprised and intrigued, "You have my attention."

"It's an imprecise art, we had to open it for a number of years to make sure it would be there when we needed it, we sent a man to check them regularly, anyway it was designed to close down after the task had been achieved."

"Are you saying that was down to you?"

"Not just Severus and I no," Harry replied looking quite amused at the suggestion that they could have been solely responsible.

"You saved the Prime Minister from the Death Eater." Severus continued.

"But more detail than that we cannot discuss here." Harry added.

"You must come with us," Severus asserted, "We need to meet with the Order, there is much you must be told."

"For your own safety as well as for ours." Harry added.

"Yes, it is not safe for you out there."

They waited patiently for Gary's answer; he looked at Xavier who was still cradling his pint. He looked as if he had been listening but didn't seem the slightest bit worried.

Gary tried to consider the advantages of letting these men take them wherever, compared to the delights of staying in a Nazi State. He was about to give in with confusion when he remembered something.

"We don't have any choice do we, Charing Cross Road, as we knew it anyway, appears to be gone." Gary stated.

"Oh yes, appears to be gone, don't worry about that, one tap on the door and it'll take you right back to where you were." Harry added, "Though it is our choices that make us what we are and we hope that after you have considered things you will come back here with whatever belongings you wish to take."

"Yes, we must get our things before we join you." Gary agreed and stood up. "Well this has been nice, so we'll just be going now and we'll meet you back here later?"

Xavier quickly finished his beer and stood up too.

"Yes, about eight o'clock this evening." Severus suggested standing up also.

The tall dark man approached the door and tapped a short thin stick that had been inside his cloak on the door once and then stepped back.

"See you later." He said retreating to his place by the fire.

Gary opened the door and both he and Xavier stepped back onto the Charing Cross Road that they had left that morning.

They headed straight for Charing Cross tube station, Gary carrying their shopping and Xavier following him as quickly as he could. Xavier thought he was setting rather a tough pace all things considered.

"We've still got plenty of time before we have to be back, we haven't got that much to pack." Xavier tried to reason with him.

Gary looked surprised, "You don't think we're going back there do you?"

Severus and Harry waited till the two men had left.

"Our choices are what make us what we are?" Severus mocked, greatly amused.

"Next time you can do it on your own." Harry replied huffily.

"I wish I had, with lines like those. How you got your First Class I will never know."

"You do know." Harry stated.

All amusement was wiped from Severus' face and he shuddered at the memory, "Yes, I do."

"So do you think they'll be back?" Harry asked trying to make the moment pass.

"Oh yes," Severus replied still grim, "If not tonight, well, sometime very soon. They can't survive out there for much longer."

"We can only hope that they make it back." Harry commented.

"Come," Severus said standing up, "We had better get prepared just in case they don't."

Xavier couldn't conceal his disappointment that Gary didn't want to go back but he didn't argue the point either. However Gary was surprised to find Xavier trying to pack his things into the suitcase five minutes after they had arrived back at the flat. He looked exhausted after their trip out but still he sat on the edge of the bed persevering as best he could.

"I am not going back there." Gary insisted.

"Who made you the boss of everything?" Xavier challenged.

"This is madness, were you listening at all?"

"Oh yes, and it all made sense and they knew our story."

"For all we know they were the ones who sent Kenneth." Gary continued.

"I don't think they did."

"They could be the ones that messed up the portals with that bomb."

"Now you're just being paranoid." Xavier accused, his resolve unruffled, "It was delivered by a big American plane and it had a big American flag stuck to the side of it."

"And you're being gullible." Gary accused straight back.

"What makes this place so wonderful?" Xavier asked, "All burger chains have disappeared from the streets you thought you knew, what can be right with that?"

Gary could think of no response.

"What was in that newspaper Gary? You hardly slept at all last night, don't think I didn't notice you tossing and turning."

Gary was starting to feel defeated.

"We need to get out of here and you know it." Xavier insisted.

"I know," Gary at last conceded, "But why with them?"

"They know we're in danger." Xavier pointed out.

"Because they're the enemy." Gary insisted though his heart wasn't in it anymore.

"Which is why we were allowed to come back for our stuff." Xavier added. "What are we going to do instead? Wander around the graveyard again? Take pot luck on a portal which was reassuringly manufactured by an explosive device?"

Gary just stared at Xavier fighting for words.

"Who were those men in the Royal Oak, Gary?" Xavier persevered.

Gary let out a sigh. "They were just men but I think they were carrying out government condoned violence, I think the Germans won and they were Nazis."

"We NEED to get out of here. Come on Gary, I know it'll be fine, just meet them at the pub." Xavier persuaded.

Gary didn't ever voice an agreement but quietly finished off their packing.

By the time six o'clock arrived their nerves were mounting, everything was packed and there was nothing to but wait.

"Why don't we just go," Xavier suggested after a while, "I don't particularly want to be out on the streets in the evening now anyway. We could just sit in that pub."

Xavier was lying on the bed, he looked completely exhausted and Gary could tell his leg was really bothering him. He supposed he must really be serious about going since he didn't look in any fit state to go anywhere.

"We could leave it till tomorrow, you're not fit enough."

"We can't, they said by eight."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Xavier shook his head, "Just gets worse from time to time, the smokes used to help a bit but we can't have those can we."

Gary was by now resigned to the whole affair, "Ok, we'll go now, but we'll get a taxi."

Xavier pushed himself up on his right arm and Gary noted that he was rather reluctant to use his left for anything, even with the brace.

Within an hour they were stood at one end of Charing Cross Road looking at the door to the pub.

"So how do you know this going to be all right?" Gary asked, "Did you remember where you had heard that name before?"

"No, I can't place it, making my head hurt thinking about it." Xavier replied, "It would certainly help us figure out what's going on here."

"Certainly would, speak up if you remember." Gary said giving Xavier's right arm a quick squeeze.

"Come on then." Xavier said.

"No wait," Gary replied catching a hold of his arm, "See?"

Xavier looked to where Gary was indicating and saw them too, a group of five young men he didn't think he wanted to encounter, thugs travelling in a pack without a doubt. They stopped outside the pub and Gary raised an eyebrow to Xavier but he tried to ignore it. One of the men tried the door and it didn't give. He pulled and twisted the handle a few times before kicking it and walking off. They passed Xavier and Gary on the opposite side of the street.

"Well that's that then." Gary announced.

"I would lock the door if I'd seen THEM coming." Xavier commented unfazed. He continued walking towards the pub forcing Gary to follow him.

A woman with a shawl round her shoulders approached the door next. She paused and looked both ways as if checking to see that nobody was watching, then noticed them. She raised a hand to Gary and Xavier and waved before opening the door easily and stepping inside.

Only Xavier had waved back. He looked to Gary who shrugged his shoulders in a defeated sort of way.

They approached the door to the pub and Xavier tried the door as Gary came up behind them with all the bags. It swung open easily and stayed open long enough to let them through.


	4. I Want To Believe

Part Four – I Want To Believe

The pub was now a lot quieter than it had been before though by no means empty. Gary and Xavier took up two seats by the fire where they had been before; there was no sign of the two men. Gary ordered some beer for them both and the barman seemed surprised at first when Gary offered him some money, then told him he could settle later.

"It's almost like we've walked into another country," Gary commented to Xavier as soon as he sat down, "I've certainly never been to a place that insisted you open a tab."

"I certainly didn't do it when I was running Blitz and Pieces." Xavier added.

"Are you Ok?" Gary asked.

"I'm fine now we're sitting down," Xavier replied, "Though you better not let me have too many beers because I've never drunk before."

Gary smiled, "No, you haven't have you, I had forgotten."

From time to time a couple or family came in from the back of the pub, passed through the pub and left through the door. Some tapped once on it before they opened it and some didn't. Gary noticed that the woman they had seen enter earlier wasn't there.

"Wonder what's going on back there." Gary asked.

"Function room?" Xavier replied going back to his beer.

"Wonder where our hosts are, you'd think they'd be early." Gary continued.

"Calm down," Xavier said to him, "They'll be here, they could be anywhere, they could even be upstairs."

"There wasn't an upstairs." Gary said remembering the Charing Cross Road side of the pub.

"There is." Xavier responded pointing out the staircase.

"What is it with this place?"

"I suppose the front we saw on the other side is just a façade."

Gary kept an eye on the stairs and the back of the pub where most of the people seemed to be coming from but both Xavier and he were surprised when Severus and Harry entered the pub from the Charing Cross side. Gary was further surprised when he turned and thought he saw the modern world they had just left existing behind the two men as they entered. To reinforce his beliefs they both seemed to be wearing normal clothes but with their cloaks still around their shoulders; no sign of the identical pendants. Severus wore a black shirt un-tucked and Harry's was a deep burgundy, they both wore tight leather pants.

"Do you suppose that was them trying to blend in?" Gary commented to Xavier before they were too close to hear.

Severus was what appeared to be his dignified aloof self but Harry smiled when he saw them.

"Glad you could make it." He said by way of greeting as they both took a place by the fire.

Xavier had thought the men had looked troubled as they entered but now they relaxed considerably in what must be familiar surroundings to them.

"We have a room arranged for you here," Severus announced, "If you can make yourself comfortable there for the night, Harry and I still have some matters to attend to here, but we can leave in the morning."

"And what about our explanation?" Gary persisted.

"It will have to wait till tomorrow I'm afraid," Harry added, "This is too public."

"I don't see why we should come with you based on what you've told us. Why tonight anyway if we can't leave till tomorrow."

"Your lives were in danger." Severus answered simply.

"What? No." Gary replied.

"Mr Wheatcroft, you have been attacked already, yes?"

"Well, yeah, but that was just a bar thing." Xavier replied not wanting to believe it had been more.

"As I said, we will tell you all tomorrow." Severus restated.

"But tonight it's not safe?" Gary asked becoming impatient.

"Well it's entirely up to you, but I would strongly advise against going out there tonight, especially if you can't run," Severus said becoming impatient himself it seemed, he stood up and prepared to leave, "I bid you good night."

In a swish of cloak Severus was gone and ascending the stairs. Harry looked at Gary and Xavier with an apologetic smile before saying good night too and following the man upstairs.

"You still want to do this?" Gary asked Xavier.

"Just because they're strange doesn't mean they're not right." Xavier answered, "And I can't run."

Gary approached the bar realising they had no idea where to go.

"We have a room booked I believe." He said to the barman.

Expecting to be given a key Gary became a bit puzzled when he was handed a twelve-inch stick and was told a password.

"Hand it back in when you're ready to leave." The barman instructed him, "You're in the Lady of Hay, second on the right."

Gary took the bags upstairs then returned to help Xavier.

"You are never going to believe this." Gary said as they slowly made their way up step by step.

"I think I could believe just about anything now." Xavier replied as they reached the last step.

When they looked down the corridor all they could see were full body length portraits in elaborate frames all the way down. They walked down hoping to find a door, when they reached the second portrait on the right, however, a cheery voice called to them. "Lady of Hay, how may I help you?"

When they turned to the portrait a women in period clothes was smiling out of it and waiting for something. Gary remembered the stick and the word he had been told but wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it. After a few minutes the lady in the portrait rolled her eyes with a mixture of impatience and disgust.

"Tap me and say the password." She snapped eventually.

In their own room Severus and Harry had a fire lit and were enjoying a drink and relaxation before they turned in.

"Did you take the charm off the door?" Harry asked.

Severus looked at him as if he was asking a very stupid question indeed.

"Sev'?" Harry persisted.

"Yes, yes I did, even if they found out where to look, now they would have no idea WHEN to look."

"I do trust you, you know that don't you?" Harry said, "Just can't be TOO careful with this."

"You have proved it many times." Sev' answered going back to his drink which at such a late hour was a whiskey single malt. After a while a feint smile played across his face, "I understand your caution."

"Sev'?"

"Hmm?"

"Come to bed?"

Harry got up and Severus left his chair by the fire to join him. They stood face to face and Severus reached a hand to touch the scar on Harry's cheek, he always tried to hide it with his hair. It was deep and lined his cheekbone, only Severus was allowed to touch it; not that anybody else had the nerve to try.

"I understand too well." Severus said softly.

Gary and Xavier settled onto the bed in their room.

"We have wandered into some sort of strange alternative reality." Gary commented.

"Talking pictures!" Xavier replied.

"Yea, I do hope we're not in an another TV programme, who on earth would write this lunacy and have the nerve to submit it to the BBC?" Gary said going over to their window. All he could see out of it was an alleyway in darkness and beyond that a few buildings with dim lights that flickered in some of the windows. Gary glanced briefly at their lighting arrangements and noticed that they appeared to be gas lamps. He looked back out of the window, a man dressed in a cloak came staggering out of the pub and wandered off down the alleyway looking a little worse for wear.

"Yes, let's face the alternative, this is real." Xavier said.

Gary gave him a withering look, "It's all real in some dimension or another."

Xavier had started trying to struggle out of his clothes; Gary let him continue, even though he looked very tired Gary knew he preferred it that way. He was feeling hungry now; he wished he had thought about it before they came up to bed, all they'd had all day were the sandwiches. He looked up at Xavier; he was perched on the edge of the bed, his left hand lying in his lap, the right one trying to wriggle through the arm of his over sized t-shirt and not having much success. There was a fine line between not waiting long enough and waiting too long.

Xavier exhaled audibly and looked suitably deflated afterward; it was time. Gary approached him and laid a hand on his right shoulder. Xavier bit his lip and frowned without looking up.

"Is there something in the case I can get for you?" Gary asked offering him some of the future painkillers they only had a strictly limited supply of.

Xavier shook his head and Gary reached for his jacket where he had a plentiful supply of paracetamol, which were everywhere. At least they had been, Gary thought with a little bit of horror. He had only bought a pack of thirty-two since you could go into anywhere selling anything and find a supply. Now he had no idea what they were going to do. They would likely find something but he really hoped it wasn't going to be some kind of leaf he would have to boil.

Gary reached for the pitcher of water he could see on a table by the bed and poured Xavier a glass of water. Xavier took the water and swallowed his tablets down. Without another word Gary helped pull the t-shirt over Xavier's arm, then over his head and down over his other arm. Gary lifted his left arm slightly to take away the clothing and he could hear Xavier hold his breath.

He beckoned Xavier to lie down and lifted his leg up as he turned and then slumped down on the pillows.

Gary finished helping Xavier undress then turned back to the door that looked like the back of a painting, because it was. The picture suddenly flew open, rocking on its hinges and a little elf creature similar to the one earlier rushed in carrying a tray then rushed out again without stopping. It left Gary feeling rather stunned. Again.

"What was that?" Xavier asked from the bed.

Gary shrugged, "Dinner, apparently." He brought the tray over to the bed; there were two plates with covers over them, a decanter with some red liquid in it. Gary lifted the covers off the plate. One had a large steak on it, displayed amongst all the usual trimmings and garnish one would expect. The other plate was a mish mash of meat chunks and vegetables smothered in gravy.

"Well," Gary said, "I think that steak's got my name on it."

Xavier pulled himself up to a sitting position; he hadn't felt at all hungry till he caught the smell of the food wafting up from the plate.

"Oh my God." Xavier said catching his breath.

Gary was puzzled but didn't say anything; he lifted the plate onto Xavier's lap and gave him a fork.

"I don't believe it." Xavier continued looking considerably upset suddenly and for no apparent reason.

"Believe what?" Gary asked getting concerned now.

"It's not exactly like the ones he used to make but near enough." Xavier continued half lost in himself.

"What, who? Xavier?"

"My father, he used to do this, everything a certain size, not mush but small enough so that I didn't have to fight with it." Xavier answered scooping some up with his fork and tasting some, "Hmm, just enough pepper."

"First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to demand what the hell is going on here!" Gary suddenly burst out leaving the steak for the moment.

"They appear to be guilty of nothing but consideration Gary." Xavier said wearily.

"It's just weird," Gary attempted to sneer, "They're weird, this place is weird, that glass ball of his is creepy, he's creepy."

"They've given us food and shelter, they've saved us from whatever was after us." Xavier reasoned.

"We didn't actually see them save us from anything though did we?" Gary countered.

"No, but somebody did throw me to the floor and start trying to kick me to death didn't they?"

"How do you know who's with who?"

"Oh, do calm down Gary." Xavier snapped.

It did stop Gary in his flow though.

"Eat your steak." Xavier commanded, still continuing with his own meal.

Gary went back to his meal but stopped again half way. "They could be poisoning us."

"Never mind," Xavier said scooping up another mouthful, "Too late now."

Gary had opened the window halfway through the night and the sounds coming from the alleyway woke them up but not until the shops below were opening. Gary went to the window and had a look down to see a cart and horse delivering to the pub and a number of shoppers already walking up and down and looking in shop windows. He turned to Xavier.

"I thought I would look to see if there's anything here better than paracetamol." Gary said.

"We're supposed to be going today, with them." Xavier argued.

"It's only one street, won't take long, if they're downstairs we can even tell them where we're going." Gary continued.

"Well I'm coming with you." Xavier insisted.

"I think you should just rest a bit."

"So they're trying to poison us but it's ok for me to stay here on my own?"

"Ok, get ready." Gary said admitting defeat.

They made their way downstairs into the bar and Gary had a look around for the two men but they were nowhere to be found.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Gary said brandishing the thin stick he had been given for opening the bedroom door.

"Give it here." Xavier replied. Gary gave him the stick and he leaned up against the bar. He was wearing his arm in a sling without the brace on; he slid the stick into the sling so it rested on top of his arm.

They made their way out into the street at the back of the pub and turned left.

"Look at these books." Xavier said to Gary as he noticed some of the titles of the books on display in a rather run down looking bookshop. Xavier was quite content and happy despite the pain he was desperately trying to ignore. The books were fascinating and he wanted to go inside, they were on all sorts of subjects he hadn't even heard of before and one large volume bore the symbol he had seen Severus and Harry wearing. Suddenly a strong wave of freezing cold and misery washed over him, anxiety crushed at his heart. He turned round as quickly as he could without losing his balance.

Gary had been turning to look at what Xavier had become so fascinated with when he felt coldness on his back. He turned back away from Xavier towards the source of the coldness in time to see a tall cloaked man with long blond hair reach beneath his cloak and pull out a stick similar to the one Xavier was keeping. The man called out some words Gary didn't understand and stabbed the stick in their direction even though he was at least three yards away from them. He then smiled in what Gary thought was a sinister fashion, bowed and disappeared.

"Did you see that?" Gary asked Xavier feeling like he would never recover from the shock. He got no answer.

Gary turned to where he had last seen Xavier and didn't find him there anymore. Everybody else in the immediate vicinity had stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at him. Gary looked down and found Xavier crumpled at his feet and quite clearly unconscious, if not dead. He sank down beside him, so much for those two creeps protecting them, he thought.

He didn't know what to do, he didn't move, nobody else moved. A quiet whisper began around him. He tried shaking Xavier's shoulder a little but he didn't move.

There was a communal gasp from the small group in the immediate vicinity, Gary looked up hardly bearing to dread another attack.

There they were, Severus and Harry coming towards him from the far end of a darker alley and all the people who had been staring at him were now staring at them. As they got closer Gary noticed they were once again both wearing the pendants and Severus had his little glass ball grasped in his hand. Their cloaks billowed impressively as they strode and their hair fanned out around their heads and for the first time Gary could see their faces properly. They both wore an expression of urgency and it was clear they were approaching him, he had no choice but to take whatever they were going to offer him.

Severus immediately sank down to the ground beside Xavier and effortlessly scooped him up in his arms.

Harry reached out a hand to Gary. "Come, we must get inside." He said as Gary took it.

They all rushed back into the pub and up the stairs to Gary and Xavier's room. Gary retrieved the stick and opened the door. Harry went in first and pulled the covers back on the bed and Severus followed and deposited his load. Gary was quick behind them getting to the bed to be the one to lift the covers over him.

"What words did he use?" Severus asked.

"You know what happened?" Gary snapped.

"He saw it." Harry answered, "In the ball. An hazy image nothing more."

"Pity you couldn't have seen it in the ball a few more minutes before it happened." Gary continued in his anger.

"A pity you couldn't keep to your room, out of danger." Severus snapped back.

Both made a move towards each other and suddenly Harry was standing between them. "What words did he use?" he asked again calmly.

"I don't know," Gary answered feeling fairly useless, "They weren't in English and he said them so fast and I didn't know anything was going to happen."

Severus made a snorting noise and walked away towards the window.

"Are you not going to ask me which way he went?" Gary asked maintaining his fury.

Severus gave a hint of a smile, "Let me guess, he just disappeared."

"So is he going to be all right?" Gary asked getting to the root of his anxiety.

"We don't know," Harry answered before Severus could, "It depends what the man who did this said. It might have just been a warning or it could have been the real thing. We'll just have to wait."

"It was just too sudden." Gary said more calmly this time looking towards Xavier who was pale and still. He felt as though his heart was trying to escape through his throat.

"Sev', you're going to have to." Harry said to Severus who was still by the window.

Severus approached the bed and kneeled beside Xavier. He took up Xavier's injured hand and clasped it in both of his; he bent his head and closed his eyes.

Gary felt like tearing him away from Xavier. "What's he doing?" he asked resisting the urge.

"He's trying to feel what happened." Harry explained, "Although it will be diluted, if it was something serious Sev' will feel it too."

Time passed and all they could both do was watch Severus. It didn't help Gary to notice that Harry looked quite worried too and his eyes never left the scene by the bed. Gary wondered how diluted it was going to be. Severus seemed to be in some sort of trance, his lips moved silently, forming words but apart from that he remained frozen.

It came suddenly, first Severus' muscles went into spasm and his face grimaced, then he crumpled to the floor. Harry rushed to his side and Gary followed not wanting to miss anything. Severus hadn't passed out and he pulled himself up to a sitting position with Harry commanding him to take it slowly.

"Thug e urchair dha, moran craidh." Severus said, "Not serious, I can wake him for you."

Gary was stunned, those were the exact same words and Severus saying them had no effect on anybody. He watched as Severus stood up and placed both his hands round Xavier's head, he was still and stony again. After what seemed like a long time Xavier's head moved slightly in Severus' hold. Gary got closer, he wanted to be there if he opened his eyes. He didn't want him to only see this tall dark creepy man and not realise who he was. Severus released his hold and staggered back into Harry who had placed himself there in an instant. Gary took a hand in his as Xavier opened his eyes and smiled weakly up at him.

"He'll be much better now," Harry said, "Let him rest awhile and we'll make plans for our journey." Severus put an arm round Harry's shoulders to steady himself and they went back to their own room.

Harry was furious; as soon as they got back to the privacy of their room he shoved Severus in the direction of the bed and stormed to the window. Severus was a bit too affected by events to launch straight on the defensive.

"Thug e urchair dha, moran craidh?" Harry shouted in disbelief, "Not serious? Look at the state of yourself."

Severus shook his head, "I know, but it was."

"The 'moran craidh' would never do that, it has to be maintained to last this long and we both know he was gone in seconds." Harry argued.

"And yet helping him has drained me and I swear that is what I saw in him."

"But that would only happen if…"

"Yes, he was already in so much pain that when it happened it overwhelmed him and he fainted."

"That much, I knew there was some but…" Harry began.

"He's not likely to trust us enough to drink a potion, his friend certainly won't; we have to get back, show him." Severus said knowing how Harry's mind was working.

"He's not strong enough now."

"I read him beyond the stupid curse when it became apparent that it had been little more than a parlour trick. The magic is reacting with his injuries and it can only get worse, we must go now where he can be helped."

Harry calmed considerably and came to sit by Severus on the bed.

"You lied to them." Harry stated not accusing.

"Let's hope they don't figure it out before we get back."

"You take so many risks." Harry said softly.

"You go next door and tell them the truth then." Severus replied wearily.

Harry reached up with both his hands and held Severus' head rather as he had done for Xavier.

"I'm fine." Severus said wriggling in the hold.

"Shh." Harry responded in way that showed he wouldn't be argued with, "We'll need you again later."

Severus relaxed into the hold. "Sooner they know the better, I need a cool dark place."

"I've quite enjoyed this." Harry responded.

"I had noticed."

"Do you have any idea how long it has been since I've met somebody who didn't know who I was? Amazing, they have no idea at all."

Eventually Severus lay back on the bed and closed his eyes. Harry took a brass dish from his trunk and lit a charcoal disc within it. He sprinkled a mixture of herbs and resin he kept in a small bag and watched as the pungent smoke began to come up from dish.

"Nacaol ymaith." He repeated as he went about the room making sure every corner was covered till there was an even haze.

"You should do their room too." Severus said without raising himself from the bed.

"Yeah, that'll not freak them out at all." Harry answered smiling.

Gary stayed by Xavier's side, he had made no attempt to get up but he looked pale so Gary let him be.

"What happened?" Xavier asked at last.

"It would appear you were cursed, according to those two anyway, who I might add, didn't look very surprised when it happened."

"Oh, Gary, they're not the enemy you know."

"How do you know?" Gary said almost snapping.

Xavier didn't reply, how could he say that he could feel it when they were close, just like had felt the cold evilness of the man who had attacked him. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep again but he knew it would be useless trying. The stabbing pains were shooting from his joints and through his body, not just from his injured side either though that was where it was the most severe. He didn't want to have to try and move his arm or leg, he didn't think he would be able to.

"Are we still going today?" Xavier asked.

"I've no idea," Gary said still feeling angry, "They've gone off to their room and they didn't mention anything about it."

Note: 'Thug e urchair dha, moran craidh' is gaelic (Scot) for 'he gave him a violent push, much pain'. Nacaol=negative (Welsh), ymaith=away (Welsh).


End file.
